Andrew Haigh Spent Two Decades Bringing 'A Long Winter' to the Screen — Now It's Heading for Festivals and Theatres
Andrew Haigh first read Colm Tóibín's short story "A Long Winter" around its 2006 publication, before he had directed a single film. Roughly two decades later, the British director has turned that story into a feature of the same name — one that is now headed for the Toronto and New York film festivals before reaching theatres via MUBI later this year, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Tóibín granted Haigh the adaptation rights about twenty years ago. The path from page to screen was not quick. An early draft of the script kept the story's original Spanish setting, but Haigh — who does not speak Spanish — found that made financing harder to secure. The finished film relocates the action to the Colorado Rockies in the 1950s.
The plot follows a young man named Mike, played by Fred Hechinger, as he navigates a fraught relationship with his lonely father, Lester (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). Mike's brother, played by Kit Connor, leaves for Korea. His mother, played by Caitríona Balfe, disappears — she has run from a life she found unbearably isolating.
Haigh, 53, is previously best known for his breakout feature Weekend and HBO's Looking. His last film, All of Us Strangers, became his highest-grossing release, pushing past $20 million globally at the box office, and earned him his first BAFTA nominations for best screenplay and directing. Haigh has described "A Long Winter" as his version of The Revenant, Alejandro G. Iñárritu's 2015 survival epic — a reference to its physical, elemental demands rather than any plot overlap.
Production is backed by MUBI and Film4, with principal filming having started in late 2025, per Screen Daily. MUBI is also a co-producer. The arthouse streamer-distributor will handle the theatrical release after the festival run.
Before Toronto and New York were confirmed, The Hollywood Reporter's June 2026 Venice preview list had already flagged "A Long Winter" as a film likely to screen at the 2026 Venice Film Festival. Whether it also lands on the Lido remains to be seen, but the festival corridor — Toronto in September, New York follow-on, then a theatrical push — is a familiar launch pattern for a film angling for year-end attention.
For Haigh, it closes a circle that started on a page he read before he had a single credit to his name. The film that resulted from that twenty-year hold now carries a cast of rising and established names, the backing of two production partners, and a release strategy built around the autumn festival circuit.
