Daily Wire reveals Stalin-era drama Confession with Rob Lowe and James Franco
Rob Lowe and James Franco star on opposite sides of an interrogation table in Confession, the previously undisclosed Daily Wire drama set in Stalin's Moscow, as reported by Deadline.
The film was directed by Czech film-maker Vaclav Marhoul and written by Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro. Marhoul previously directed the 2019 Holocaust drama The Painted Bird. The script keeps the focus tight, on two men and a prison.
Lowe plays Alexei, a disillusioned former literature professor arrested in Moscow in 1938 and taken to Lubyanka Prison. Franco plays Vladimir, Alexei's former student, now the officer questioning him. It is a teacher and pupil, reversed.
The wider cast is large and familiar to cinema audiences. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Nick Nolte, Richard Brake, Emile Hirsch, Brad Dourif and Dean Norris also star. No character details for those roles have been disclosed.
Confession will have its first public screening, its world premiere, at the Warsaw Film Festival on 15 October, according to Deadline. It is then planned to play in 100 theatres in the United States for one night on 11 November. It will arrive on the Daily Wire's streaming platform that same day.
That pattern means a very short theatrical window, the gap normally left between cinema release and home viewing. One night on the big screen, then straight to streaming. For audiences, the cinema date is a single chance to see it with a crowd.
Behind the film, Dallas Sonnier for Bonfire Legend, Travis Mills, Shapiro and Sean Calvano are credited as producers, with David Guglielmo, Amanda Presmyk and Lillian Campbell listed as additional producers, Deadline reported. Guglielmo also served as casting director, the person who assembles the cast.
The craft team includes cinematographer Peter Menzies Jr., production designer Vincent Reynaud and makeup and prosthetics designer Jeff Dawn. Production was based at Santa Clarita Studios, just north of Los Angeles. The whole film was shot on 35mm film, traditional celluloid rather than digital cameras, which gives a distinct grain and texture.
What makes this stand out is the route to the screen. A commentary-led media company has backed a 1930s period prison story, shot on celluloid, launching at a European festival before a one-night American cinema outing.
