The Searchlight Pictures feature will shoot in the UK and Greece

Cate Blanchett will star in Alice Birch’s directorial debut feature, Sweetsick, for Searchlight Pictures, produced by Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell and Theo Barrowclough of House Productions alongside Blanchett and her Dirty Films banner. Lee Groombridge will also produce; Film4 will executive produce and co-finance.

Sweetsick follows a mercurial woman (Blanchett) with a strange and piercing gift – the ability to see what others most intimately need, often at great personal cost – who sets out on a journey home.

Birch, best known for the BAFTA-nominated Lady Macbeth and her writing work on Succession and Normal People, said, “I could not be more excited to be making my debut feature as a director with such an extraordinary team of filmmakers and collaborators.

“I am in the safest hands with Tessa Ross and her brilliant team at House, and am so proud to be working with Searchlight and Film4. To have the peerless Cate Blanchett at the centre of it is thrilling.”

Rossd added: “We’re all very big believers in Alice Birch and it’s been wonderful to see that the fantastic team she’s gathered around her, not least the amazing Cate, feel the same way – all drawn in by her bold, beautiful vision.”

VP of development & production Pete Spencer and creative executive Cameron Chidsey are overseeing the project for Searchlight Pictures, reporting into production & development heads Katie Goodson-Thomas and DanTram Nguyen.

Farhana Bhula, director of Film4 and Alice Whittemore, development & production executive are overseeing the project for Film4. Bhula is an executive producer for Film4, and Zoe Edwards, Harry Dixon and James Green are executive producers for House Productions.

Cate Blanchett image credit Clementine Schneidermann; Alice Birch image credit Renato Campora.