Sweet Vengeance reportedly be the next film from director Brian De Palma, with the thriller set to begin production this year. The legendary director of Carrie, Dressed To Kill, The Untouchables, Mission: Impossible and more is making a welcome return to filmmaking. Previously thought retired, Brian De Palma is said to be making a new ... Brian De Palma making a new movie, Sweet Vengeance, this summer
Sweet Vengeance reportedly be the next film from director Brian De Palma, with the thriller set to begin production this year.
The legendary director of Carrie, Dressed To Kill, The Untouchables, Mission: Impossible and more is making a welcome return to filmmaking. Previously thought retired, Brian De Palma is said to be making a new film this summer – a crime thriller, by the sounds of things, called Sweet Vengeance.
According to The Film Stage, the production will be based in Portugal, and the film itself is said to be “inspired by two stories of true murder.”
De Palma is perhaps best known for his work in the thriller genre, with such films as Dressed To Kill, Blow Out and Body Double mixing Hitchcockian suspense and complex camera work with his own blackly comic, brazen style. His 2006 film The Black Dahlia also dealt with a true murder case.
Meanwhile, it sounds as though Sweet Vengeance will offer some sort of critique of modern true crime documentaries – the kinds of things you’ll find clogging up Netflix’s arteries. “I’m interested in how they tell the story of crime,” reads a quote on The Film Stage, presumably from De Palma himself, “so I’ll do it the way [they] do on television.”
There could still be room for De Palma’s classic technical ingenuity, though, with the outlet writing that “Sweet Vengeance boasts two quintessential De Palma setpieces.”
If you’re a fan of the auteur’s movies, you’ll probably have a few in mind: the split-screen bloodbath finale from Carrie, perhaps, or the descending lift murder in Dressed To Kill, the train station shoot-out (with baby in pram) from The Untouchables, and every frame of Blow Out’s stunning stars-and-stripes-draped finale.
De Palma’s 20th century work has struggled to make the same impact as his vintage 70s, 80s and 90s output. Mission To Mars was an expensive financial disappointment, while such films as Femme Fatale and Passion paled in comparison to his earlier thrillers. His last movie was 2019’s Domino, a crime thriller marred by behind-the-scenes problems; he later distanced himself from it.
Previously thought retired – partly because he couldn’t secure the health insurance that would allow him to continue working – it now sounds as though De Palma has one more movie in him after all.
If you’re looking for more detailed insight into a fascinating movie-maker, be sure to check out De Palma – Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow’s portrait of his life, work, and the experiences that informed his movies.
More on Sweet Vengeance as it comes in.
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