Talia Ryder has joined Michael Shannon in Doctor Caligari's Cabinet of Wonders, a contemporary reimagining of the silent-era horror landmark The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Variety).

The film is written and directed by John Erick Dowdle and has already wrapped production in Germany. Shannon plays Doctor Caligari, a travelling mesmerist who moves from town to town with a sleepwalker under his control. Ryder plays Jane, described as an intuitive young woman. The project is billed as a "terrifying and mind-bending psychological horror."

Anton — the London-based financing and production company — is fully backing the film and handling worldwide rights. Those rights will be shopped to distributors at the inaugural Toronto International Film Festival market, a new industry marketplace running alongside the festival's public screenings. CAA Media Finance will co-represent North American rights (the United States and Canada) alongside Anton.

The producing team spans several companies. Drew Dowdle produces for Brothers Dowdle Productions. Sébastien Raybaud and Brandt Wrightsman produce for Anton. Stuart Manashil, Jonas Katzenstein and Maximilian Leo produce through their company augenschein. German public funds supported the production: the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW and the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), a national rebate scheme that helps finance films shooting in Germany.

Ryder's career has been gaining momentum since her breakout in Eliza Hittman's Never Rarely Sometimes Always, the 2020 Focus Features drama that earned her Independent Spirit and Critics' Choice nominations. She recently appeared in Ethan Coen's Honey Don't! opposite Margaret Qualley, also for Focus Features. She is currently shooting the second season of Prime Video's Mr. & Mrs. Smith, opposite Mark Eydelshteyn.

Her upcoming slate continues to fill out. She will next be seen in Frankie Shaw's 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank, opposite Liam Neeson, for Picturestart. She has also joined the cast of Rob Burnett's In Memoriam, opposite Marc Maron, Lily Gladstone and Sharon Stone; that film is set to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.

For a performer still early in her film career, the range is striking — from a socially urgent indie drama to a psychological horror alongside Michael Shannon, to a streaming spy series. The thread connecting them is a casting orbit that keeps pulling in directors with distinct, uncompromising sensibilities.

Shannon, a two-time Academy Award nominee, has long moved between studio character work and auteur-driven projects. He is represented by CAA and Range Media Partners. Ryder is represented by UTA, LBI Entertainment, and McKuin Frankel Whitehead LLP.

No release date has been set for Doctor Caligari's Cabinet of Wonders. With production complete and the TIFF market looming, the next step for Anton and CAA will be finding distributors willing to bet on a contemporary horror built from one of cinema's oldest nightmares.