Anne Hathaway to play prison psychologist in 'Eileen'

WASHINGTON: American actor Anne Hathaway is all set to play a mysterious prison psychologist in the psychological thriller film ‘Eileen’, directed by William Oldroyd, reported People.

The trailer for Anne Hathaway’s most recent film, ‘Eileen’, was unveiled on Tuesday by Neon. The movie stars Oscar winner, 40, and Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit, Last Night in Soho), as employees at a Massachusetts jail in the 1960s who form an odd connection that turns out to be dangerous.

According to People, the trailer shows McKenzie, 23, as her title character Eileen meets Rebecca (Hathaway), a platinum-blonde, cigarette-smoking psychologist who takes on something of a mentorship role toward the younger employee.

As their relationship develops, Rebecca asks Eileen if she may trust in her and makes a pledge to tell the younger woman a dark secret. After that, Eileen’s own life seems to start to spiral out of control, and her father (Shea Wigham) notices that something is different about his daughter.

Eileen is shown kissing a character who appears to be a prison guard, embracing Rebecca herself and even holding a gun at the elder woman at one moment in the trailer. Rebecca, however, seems unaffected and even praises Eileen for her work with the weapon, reported People.

“Set during a bitter 1964 Massachusetts winter, young secretary Eileen becomes enchanted by the glamorous new counselor at the prison where she works,” reads an official synopsis for the movie. “Their budding friendship takes a twisted turn when Rebecca reveals a dark secret — throwing Eileen onto a sinister path.”

In January, ‘Eileen’ had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. The film is directed by William Oldroyd, whose 2016 picture ‘Lady Macbeth’ gave Florence Pugh her breakthrough role. It is based on novelist Otessa Moshfegh’s debut novel of the same name, published in 2015.

The movie was written by Moshfegh and her husband Luke Goebel, who previously collaborated on last year’s Jennifer Lawrence-Brian Tyree Henry movie Causeway. Eileen is the second of two fall 2023 releases Hathaway stars in as a psychologist. She also appears in the new romantic drama She Came to Me alongside Peter Dinklage and Marisa Tomei, reported People.

“I saw Eileen at Sundance and then I saw [She Came to Me] at Berlin, and I thought, ‘Oh my god, I scream in two independent films this year,’ ” Hathaway told IndieWire in October while promoting the latter movie, which has made an interim agreement with SAG-AFTRA amid its ongoing strike.

Eileen releases in New York and Los Angeles-based movie theatres on December 1 and everywhere on December 8.