LIFE & CULTURE

Lily-Rose Depp, Hoyeon Jung & Renate Reinsve Are “Devouring” Men In ‘The Governesses’

Yes, you read that correctly.

This year, there’s a series of films and onscreen projects that have been building our excitement since the news of their conception broke. But it’s not every day that the initial news of an upcoming project—whether that be a film title or a cast list—builds the same anticipation as the final product.

Thankfully, A24 has announced that their latest film project, The Governesses, is set to have a trio of leading ladies that has us already eager to know a release date.

A sophomore feature from Joe Talbot (The Last Black Man In San Francisco), the film’s cast is set to include Lily-Rose Depp (The Idol), HoYeon Jung (Squid Game) and Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person In The World).

Based on Anne Serre’s hit novel of the same name, the film “follows three rebellious governesses who upend the household they work in—inspiring the minds of the boys in their care, igniting the imaginations of the bohemian couple who employ them and abandoning their charges for erotic adventures”, as per Deadline.

According to the French novel, the story follows three governesses: Inès, Laura and Eléonore. Employed at the country estate of the Austeur family, the three women are hired to care for the family’s four sons, however, their actual job was to liven the falling Austeur marriage.

“Monsieur enjoys the presence of the young women, not sexually but for the excitement they bring into the home, their chaotic female energy,” the New York Times wrote in a review of the novel. “They flit around, planning parties, wiping the occasional cheek and inspiring nervous lust in the older boys.”

The Governess
HoYeon Jung, Lily-Rose Depp and Renate Reinsve (Credit: Getty Images)

Not only does their work involve caring for the surrounding men, but it also includes, well, “devouring” men.

“In their yellow dresses, they press themselves against the gates of the house ‘like dead butterflies.’ Cars stop, men emerge. More cars stop. ‘Whole evenings go by in this way: three yellow governesses pressed up against the gates, and all these men milling around in the gray twilight’,” the New York Times wrote about the novel.

Of course, each of these three actors have had incredibly impressive years in their careers, making the anticipation for this film palpable. For Depp, she is set to star alongside The Weeknd in HBO’s The Idol, which is a series about a female musician who falls in love with a club owner, who also moonlights as a cult leader. The series is created by Euphoria’s Sam Levinson and will also star Troye Sivan, Tunde Adebimpe and Anne Heche.

For Jung, she recently won a SAG Award for her role as Kang Sae-byeok in Netflix’s 2021 hit show Squid Game. Along with The Governesses, Jung will star alongside Kodi Smit-McPhee, Cate Blanchett, Sacha Baron Cohen and Kevin Kline in Alfonso Cuarón’s thriller series Disclaimer for Apple TV+.

And as for Reinsve, she recently won Cannes’ Best Actress Award and a BAFTA nomination for her breakout role in Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person In The World. The film itself was nominated for Best International Feature Film and Best Original Screenplay at this year’s Oscars ceremony.

Given that The Governesses cast list has only just be released, it’s likely that the film won’t have a release date any time soon. In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled here for updates and maybe give the popular novel a read below:

The Governesses

The Governesses by Anne Serre, $11.65 at Amazon.

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