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The best Cynthia Erivo movies and TV shows feature a strong mix of releases that take advantage of her singing and acting talents. Erivo got her start as a singer and she worked in theater before she ever took on roles in movies and TV shows. It was her early role as Celie Harris in The Color Purple that earned her first major attention, and it even led to her Broadway debut when she took the role to the revival in 2015.

This led to her film debut in 2016 when she signed on for the neo-noir thriller Bad Times at the El Royale as part of that film’s ensemble cast. This led to even bigger things, such as the Steve McQueen-directed film Widows, and then enjoyed her breakout in the historical drama Harriet, where she played abolitionist Harriet Tubman. However, she enjoyed her biggest breakthrough when she signed on...

Anthony Chen's slow-burn character study is essentially a showcase for its star Cynthia Erivo, who after scene stealing turns in the likes of Widows and Bad Times At The El Royale and her lead performance in Harriet, proves she can not only carry a film but lift it emotionally beyond the script.

Based on the book by Alexander Maksik and adapted by the author and Susanne Farrell for the screen, Erivo plays Jacqueline, a Liberian refugee, whose experience on a Greek holiday island is far from a sun-kissed getaway. A liminal space already, thanks to all those holidaymakers coming and going, she exists in an even more precarious state. In the here and now, she is on the fringes, stealing sugar packets to keep herself going and olive oil as a way to generate a bit of cash by offering tourists foot massages on the beach. But Jacqueline is also emotionally.

Fresh from its UK premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival, Drift, packs an emotional punch in a story that tackles very tough themes.

Based on Alexander Maksik’s novel, A Marker to Measure Drift, it is Anthony Chen behind the camera bringing this story to life starring Cynthia Erivo and Alia Shawkat.

We catch up with Anthony to discuss the emotional toll of some scenes, filming in Greece and more!

You can watch the full interview below:

Drift is released in cinemas on March 29th

The post Anthony Chen on directing emotionally hard-hitting drama Drift appeared first on HeyUGuys.

There is a moment in Drift, the character study from filmmaker Anthony Chen, that you know is inevitable. (It’s now playing in New York, opens in L.A. on Feb. 16, and goes wide on Feb. 23.) You spend so much of this carefully constructed film’s running time bracing for it, aware that this tale of a woman named Jacqueline — quietly yet powerfully played by Cynthia Erivo — is building to a confessional crescendo. A Liberian citizen who’s been living in London for years, she now finds herself in Greece,...

Drift falls short in exploring the full breadth of Jacqueline's desperate situation as a Liberian refugee in Greece. The film lacks insight into Jacqueline's character and fails to fully develop its storyline. The dynamic between Jacqueline and Callie is a strength of the film, showcasing Cynthia Erivo's powerful performance.

Jacqueline (Cynthia Erivo) wanders the beaches of Greece alone every day in Anthony Chen’s Drift. Her eyes are distant, and there’s a deep pain swimming in them, but Jacqueline goes about her day in the hopes that she will at least be able to buy some food and water to sustain her for the coming days. There’s an immediacy to her quiet actions, but a sense of hopelessness too, as she dodges prying police officers asking for an acquaintance’s passport.

Drift is a 2023 drama movie by director Anthony Chen that debuted at the Sundance Film Festival.

It’s a weekend of well-reviewed indie openings with Bleecker Street’s Out Of Darkness, The Monk And The Gun (from the directors of Lunana: A Yak In The Classroom) and limited openings for The Taste Of Things, Perfect Days (Best International Feature nominated), Anthony Chen’s Drift, Bas Devos’ Here and Ennio by Giuseppe Tornatore, which premiered in Venice in 2021 and is finally getting a U.S. release.

Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days, Japan’s official Oscar submission that nabbed a nom, opened at six locations in New York and LA Wednesday, adding additional cities next week. The film written by Wenders and Takuma Takasaki stars Hirayama, a public toilet cleaner in Tokyo who seems utterly content with his simple life until a series of unexpected encounters reveal more of his unearthed past. See Deadline review.

Neon had a qualifying run in November.

It's likely that audiences will, by the end of this year, only be talking about Cynthia Erivo's turn as Elphaba in Wicked: Part One — folks are already anticipating the upcoming adaptation of the iconic stage musical to be the next Barbie — but her performance in Drift doesn't deserve to get lost in the mix. Here, she paints a tender portrait of the weight of grief and the resilience of the human spirit, reminding us why, with only less than a dozen film credits to her name, she's already a two-time Oscar nominee. Though the same level of praise can't be given to the film itself, Erivo's work is so sublime that it almost makes up for it.

Directed by Anthony Chen and written by Susanne Farrell and Alexander Maksik, Drift follows a Liberian refugee, Jacqueline (Erivo), as she struggles to survive on an unnamed Greek island. Homeless and virtually penniless,...

The trailer for Cynthia Erivo‘s new movie has been released.

The 36-year-old Tony, Emmy, and Grammy winner stars alongside Alia Shawkwat in the movie Drift directed by Anthony Chen. Along with starring in the movie, Cynthia also serves as a producer.

Based on the book A Marker To Measure Drift by Alexander Maksik, Drift follows Jacqueline (Erivo), a young refugee, who lands alone and penniless on a Greek island, where she tries first to survive and then to cope with her past. While gathering her strength, she begins a friendship with a rootless tour-guide (Shawkat) and together they find the resilience to forge ahead.

Keep reading to find out more…

The movie also stars Ibrahima Ba, Honor Swinton Byrne, Zainab Jah, Suzy Bemba, and Vincent Vermignon.

If you missed it, Cynthia also recently spilled some new details on filming the Wicked movies with Ariana Grande.

Drift hits select theaters...

“I’m really glad we got it made for Bill,” declares Cynthia Erivo about producing, starring in and writing an original song for the indie drama “Drift.” The late Bill Paxton was originally slated to direct, before he unexpectedly passed away in 2017. For our recent webchat she adds, “I think it’s a really wonderful thing that we were able to do something that was one of Bill’s last wishes. That’s a really special thing. I’m really proud of the fact that we put all the work we could possibly have put into this to have it be a real thing, to have it be real, to have it be realized, because it wasn’t easy. We worked really hard. I feel like it’s a really special piece.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.

See 2024 Oscars battle for Best Original Song

“Drift” is Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen‘s first English-language feature,...

Cynthia Erivo has already achieved a Grammy, a Tony, an Emmy, and an Oscar nomination in her career, but the stage and screen actress was determined to add yet another title to her resumé: producer.

Erivo stars in “Drift,” the adaptation of Alexander Maksik’s 2013 novel “A Marker to Measure Drift,” which is her first producing project to be released. As “Drift” is an entirely independent production through an Equity deal, the film is exempt from SAG-AFTRA restrictions amid the ongoing strike.

Erivo exclusively told IndieWire that she was attached to the project since around 2015, when she was starring in “The Color Purple” on Broadway. After a director switch following the death of Bill Paxton, Erivo was key in getting “Drift” greenlit, as well as helping select “Search Party” star Alia Shawkat to co-star after the initial actor “didn’t quite work out.”

“It was kind of all-in,...

Accomplishing the rare feature of premiering two features this year, Anthony Chen’s Cynthia Erivo-led and -produced refugee drama Drift premiered at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, then a few months later he debuted The Breaking Ice at Cannes Film Festival. The former was picked up by Utopia and now ahead of a February 9 release, the first trailer and poster have arrived.

Here’s the synopsis: “Jacqueline (Two-Time Academy Award nominee Cynthia Erivo), a young refugee, lands alone and penniless on a Greek island, where she tries first to survive and then to cope with her past. While gathering her strength, she begins a friendship with a rootless tour-guide (Alia Shawkat) and together they find the resilience to forge ahead.”

Michael Frank said in his Sundance review, “Coming from a script by Susanne Farrell and Alexander Maksik, Drift rarely individualizes its main character, quietly watching her as she struggles to survive.

Grammy, Emmy, and Tony award-winning triple threat talent Cynthia Erivo emotionally unzips herself for moving film “Drift,” the first project she has produced to be released.

The Oscar-nominated actress leads the independent film, which debuted at Sundance earlier this year. Based on Alexander Maksik’s 2013 novel “A Marker to Measure Drift,” the film follows a refugee who crosses paths with a lonesome tour guide in Greece.

The official synopsis reads: “Jacqueline (Erivo), a young refugee, lands alone and penniless on a Greek island, where she tries first to survive and then to cope with her past. While gathering her strength, she begins a friendship with rootless tour-guide Callie (Alia Shawkat) and together they find the resilience to forge ahead.”

Ibrahima Ba, Honor Swinton Byrne, Zainab Jah, Suzy Bemba, and Vincent Vermignon also star.

“Drift” is the English-language debut of Camera d’Or-winning director Anthony Chen (“Ilo Ilo”), who won the...

Cynthia Erivo stars, alongside Alia Shawkat, Honor Swinton Byrne.

MetFilm Distribution has acquired UK-Ireland distribution rights to Drift, the English-language feature debut of filmmaker Anthony Chen, which stars in and is produced by Cynthia Erivo.

Adapted from Alexander Maksik’s novel A Marker To Measure Drift by Susanne Farrell and Maksik, Drift is a character study of a refugee – played by Erivo – who is struggling to eke out a living on a Greek island, while traumatised by memories of her war-torn country.

Alia Shawkat and Honor Swinton Byrne star alongside Erivo. Memento Films International handles worldwide sales on the title.

Cynthia Erivo stars, alongside Alia Shawkat, Honor Swinton Byrne.

MetFilm Distribution has acquired UK-Ireland distribution rights to Drift, the English-language feature debut of filmmaker Anthony Chen.

Adapted from Alexander Maksik’s novel A Marker To Measure Drift by Susanne Farrell and Maksik, Drift is a character study of a refugee – played by Cynthia Erivo – who is struggling to eke out a living on a Greek island, while traumatised by memories of her war-torn country.

Alia Shawkat and Honor Swinton Byrne star alongside Erivo. Memento Films International handles worldwide sales on the title.

Drift debuted in the Premieres strand of Sundance Film Festival in January.

Utopia has landed the North American rights to “Drift,” an emotional drama starring Cynthia Erivo and Alia Shawkat. The sale comes a few months after its debut at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

“Drift” is the English-language feature debut of Anthony Chen (“Ilo Ilo”). Based on Alexander Maksik’s 2013 novel “A Marker to Measure Drift,” the story follows a refugee (Erivo) who struggles to survive on a Greek Island as she is tormented by memories of the war-torn country she was able to flee. Through her friendship with an American tour-guide (Shawkat), she begins to find a way to move past the violence and trauma she has endured to forge a new life for herself.

“After our very emotional Sundance premiere, I’m so pleased to be working with Utopia to bring ‘Drift’ to audiences across the States,” Chen said. “I’m convinced our film’s message of hope...

Singaporean director Anthony Chen’s English-language debut follows a West African refugee, Jacqueline (Cynthia Erivo), who washes up on a Greek island homeless, cashless, and friendless. She doesn’t speak until ten minutes into Drift, taking in her surroundings, plagued by a fear that’s nestled deep within her. Understandably, she’s scared of everyone and everything, living in a cave, eating whatever she can find, making money by washing tourists’ feet on the beach.

Chen sees Jacqueline as an other, lacking the empathy necessary to tell this weighty story, inexcusably using the camera to shoot her as someone who doesn’t belong. It feels less like a storytelling technique than a major formal misstep. Any empathy comes across as coded, the vagueness of the narrative only cementing this absence.

Coming from a script by Susanne Farrell and Alexander Maksik, Drift rarely individualizes its main character, quietly watching her as she struggles to survive.

Anyone who has traveled to seaside resort areas around the world will recognize them, the obvious foreigners who spend their days approaching tourists with assorted trinkets to sell and are most often ignored or shooed away by Westerners. Precious few films have put such figures centerstage, but Drift does that and quite a bit more as it examines a young woman whose currently forlorn position in the world masks the very different sort of life to which she was once accustomed.

Tragedy and bereavement are dealt with an exceptionally acute and insightful manner in Drift. Working from a 2013 novel by Alexander Maksik, the full title of which is A Marker to Measure Drift, the author and his co-writer Susanne Farrell tackled a challenging narrative that many filmgoers would readily avoid, a personal tragedy of staggering magnitude. But not only has Singapore director Anthony Chen set himself a tough task in this ambitious adaptation,...

Sundance film festival: Cynthia Erivo stars as a west African migrant who befriends Alia Shawkat’s American émigré in this too-quiet character drama

Save for its few flashback moments of horrific, haunting trauma, Drift, the mostly quiet story of a west African migrant reeling from the unimaginable on a Greek resort isle, is easy on the eyes. Director Anthony Chen’s film, from a screenplay by Susanne Farrell and Alexander Maksik, gives harried aftermath the sheen of tranquil nobility, resilience hiding in plain sight – the crowd of barely clothed, languid white bodies dotting star Cynthia Erivo’s opening walk down the beach, the bleached yellow of the Mediterranean sun, the way Erivo’s Jacqueline slowly, carefully washes her one set of clothes. Even Jacqueline’s night ritual, arranging plastic bags of pebbles for a makeshift beach cave mattress, takes on the lulling rhythm of a reverie.

It’s a lot of compelling aesthetic,...

At first glance, Cynthia Erivo’s Sundance drama “Drift” appears to be the latest in a long line of call-to-action refugee stories, set in Europe and focused on those who’ve left Africa, only to encounter resistance once they reach unfamiliar shores. Turns out, while there are certainly overlaps with recent films like “Mediterranea” and “Fire at Sea” — which are deserving social-issue movies to be sure — “Drift” doesn’t have anything like the same agenda.

Rather than serving to indict European indifference, as refugee films so often do, Singaporean director Anthony Chen’s moving feature uses the fictional journey of Erivo’s character, Jacqueline, as an unlikely ode to healing and human connection. That’s an ambitious gamble, since Europe’s real-world immigration troubles are serious enough that inventing a story purely for metaphorical purposes — the way co-writer Alexander Maksik did in his original novel, “A Marker to Measure Drift” — might have seemed tacky.

Based on the 2013 novel “A Marker to Measure Drift” by Alexander Maksik, set just after the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003, “Drift” aims for impressionistic insight but is ultimately manipulative and reductive. Maksik’s screenplay, which he co-wrote with Susanne Farrell, sees its heroine Jacqueline as nothing more than a vessel to explore an outsider’s view of the trauma inflicted by war.

Continue reading ‘Drift’ Review: Cynthia Erivo Stars In An Impressionistic, But Hollow Refugee Drama [Sundance] at The Playlist.

The same piercing intimacy and absence of sentimentality that Singaporean director Anthony Chen brought to the beautifully observed Ilo Ilo — winner of Cannes’ 2013 Camera d’Or for best first feature — makes affecting drama of a displaced West African woman’s struggle to survive in the wake of unimaginable tragedy in Drift. Carried by Cynthia Erivo’s haunted performance as a refugee jolted into total retreat from the world on a Greek island, this sensitive character study also allows for cracks of light as she slowly reopens herself to the possibility of bonding with a lonely American tour guide played by Alia Shawkat.

Adapted from Alexander Maksik’s 2013 novel A Marker to Measure Drift by the author and Susanne Farrell, the film opens with the eloquent image of footprints in the sand being slowly washed away at a shoreline. They belong to Jacqueline (Erivo), about whom we initially know nothing beyond...

Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Utopia releases the film in limited theaters on Friday, February 9, with expansion to follow.

There are few shots in “Drift” which don’t feature Cynthia Erivo’s Jacqueline — a Liberian woman educated in England, who ends up stranded in Greece — and the film is all the better for it. The third feature by Singaporean director Anthony Chen (“Ilo Ilo”), from a script by Susanne Farrell and Alexander Maksik (the latter of whom wrote the novel on which it was based), the movie skillfully bides its time over 90 minutes before revealing anything at all about its protagonist, or how she ended up wandering a tourist destination, like a spirit without purpose. By tethering itself to Erivo’s layered performance, as a woman who carries the weight of her past on her shoulders, “Drift”

Jacqueline appears to be a...

We know the traumatized need the sense of safety to properly heal. But does art about trauma benefit from feeling safe?

That’s the nagging question that comes close to undermining the effect of “Drift,” the title referring to the unmoored state of mind in a homeless survivor of war-ravaged Liberia wandering the coastal edges of a blithely touristy Greece. Her portrayer Cynthia Erivo, however, is only ever a magnetic anchor in “Ilo Ilo” filmmaker Anthony Chen’s quietly compassionate if ultimately predictable drama.

Adapted from the 2013 novel “A Marker to Measure Drift” by Alexander Maksik (also a credited co-screenwriter with Susanne Farrell), the film follows refugee Jacqueline (Erivo), who in the beginning we see cadging food (or just sugar packets) from vacated tables at restaurants, staring at the rippling sea for long stretches and sleeping in a cave on a makeshift mattress made from plastic bags of sand. As...

It’s Cynthia Erivo’s first time in Park City, Utah for the Sundance Film Festival. It’s a remarkably short trip — about 48-hours, not including flying time, as she takes a quick break from filming “Wicked” in London. But it’s a particularly momentous occasion: Erivo is celebrating the debut of her latest movie “Drift,” the first film she’s ever produced.

“It’s really cool to go with a film that I’m in and producing — apparently that is a rare thing for your first film to do that — so I’m quite pleased,” Erivo tells Variety, sounding a bit like a proud parent.

“Drift” could be considered Erivo’s first child, as the inaugural film from her Edith’s Daughter production company, which she launched in 2020 and runs with Solome Williams.

Directed by Anthony Chen, “Drift” is based on Alexander Maksik’s critically acclaimed 2013 novel “A Marker to Measure Drift.

Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen is on a roll – his English-language debut Drift is premiering at Sundance Film Festival, he has Chinese-language drama The Breaking Ice being readied for festival play later this year, and several other directing projects in different languages at various stages of development and pre-production.

Drift, which stars Cynthia Erivo as a Liberian refugee scratching out an existence on a Greek island, is thematically not a million miles away from Chen’s previous two features – Ilo Ilo and Wet Season – in that they’re stories about outsiders or people struggling to find their place in the world and fit in. “I seem to gravitate to telling stories about outsiders and the bonds, or the human connections, that we make between strangers,” says Chen, who has some experience with feeling dislocated, as he grew up in Singapore but spent many years living in the UK.

Chen shot the film,...

Singaporean director Anthony Chen’s English-language debut “Drift” world premieres in the Premieres section of the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 22. Chen, the producers, and Cynthia Erivo, the film’s lead actor and one of producers, talk to Variety about the movie.

Starring Erivo (“Harriet”) and Alia Shawkat (“Arrested Development”), the film is from the producer team of “Call Me By Your Name” – Peter Spears, Emilie Georges and Naima Abed. Erivo, Solome Williams and Greece’s Heretic are also producers. Spears won the best picture Oscar for Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland.”

“Drift” is based on Alexander Maksik’s 2013 novel “A Marker to Measure Drift.” It was a New York Times Notable Book, and finalist for the William Saroyan Prize, and Le Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger. The screenplay is co-written by Maksik and Susanne Farrell.

Erivo plays migrant Jacqueline, who lives a marginal existence on the shores of a Greek island,...

Drift

The second 2023 Anthony Chen film on our list (the other being The Breaking Ice at the #191 spot) is definitely more indie and working with an international conflux. Starring Cynthia Erivo, Alia Shawkat, Ibrahima Ba and Honor Swinton-Byrne, this book to film project was filmed in Greece in May of last year. Based on the book A Marker to Measure Drift, Drift is about relocating, escaping, surviving but never truly getting away. Susanne Farrell and Alexander Maksik adapted the screenplay.

Gist: Drift follows a young Liberian refugee named Jacqueline (Erivo) who has barely escaped her war-torn country to a Greek island.…...

The Utah-based Sundance Institute has announced the lineup for its annual film festival. A premier destination for debut directors, Sundance has launched beloved and highly successful indies like “Clerks,” “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Fruitvale Station,” “Whiplash,” “Manchester by the Sea,” “Get Out,” “The Big Sick,” “Promising Young Woman,” “Minari,” and “Coda.” 2022’s fest hosted the premieres of “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” “Emily the Criminal,” “Resurrection,” “Nanny,” and “Living”. More than any other film festival, the Park City event is a place of discovery, so it’s tough to predict what will break out. Still, it’s always fun to try! Here are six Sundance premieres that could be conversation-starters throughout 2023:

“All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt”

“All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt” depicts the life of an African-American woman across multiple decades in Mississippi. The first promotional image suggests a lyrical memory piece that blends the sensibilities of Terrence Malick and Barry Jenkins.

Memento International has boarded “Fremont,” the latest film by BAFTA-nominated Iranian-born director Babak Jalali, which is set to world premiere at Sundance.

Slated for the Next section, the black-and-white film tells the story of Donya, a young woman working at a Chinese fortune cookie factory in the San Francisco bay. Formerly a translator for the U.S. military in Afghanistan, she struggles to put her life back in order. In a moment of sudden revelation, she decides to send out a special message in a cookie.

“Fremont” marks the screen debut of Anaita Wali Zada, a real-life Afghan refugee, who stars in the film opposite Jeremy Allen White, well-known for his roles in “The Bear” and “Shameless,” and Gregg Turkington (“Ant-Man”). White will next been seen in Sean Durkin’s upcoming A24 movie “The Iron Claw” with Zac Efron.

Laced with wry humor, “Fremont” delivers a warm portrait of a...

Exclusive: Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo (Harriet) will lead cast alongside Being The Ricardos and Arrested Development star Alia Shawkat in Anthony Chen’s (Ilo Ilo) English-language debut Drift.

The film reunites Call Me By Your Name producers Emilie Georges and Peter Spears and exec producer Naima Abed. Spears won the Best Picture Oscar last year for Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland.

Drift follows a young Liberian refugee named Jacqueline (Erivo) who has barely escaped her war-torn country to a Greek island. She offers massages to tourists in exchange for one or two euros to battle her hunger, while her daily struggle for survival keeps the memories that haunt her at bay. She meets an unmoored tour guide (Shawkat) and the two become close as they each find hope in the other. Ibrahima Ba, who has a supporting role in Cannes 2022 title Father & Soldier, and Honor Swinton-Byrne (The Souvenir: Parts 1 & 2), are also among cast.

“Call Me By Your Name” producers Emilie Georges and Naima Abed are launching Paradise City, a London- and Paris-based film, TV drama and branded content production and management company. The banner’s slate includes projects by Edward Berger (“Deutschland 83”), Lili Horvát (“White God”), Anthony Chen (“Ilo Ilo”) and South African author Lauren Beukes (“Slipping”).

Georges is the founder and CEO of sales banner Memento Intl., which is at Cannes this year with Tarik Saleh’s competition film “Boy from Heaven,” Dominik Moll’s “La nuit du 12” in Cannes Premieres, Charlotte Le Bon’s “Falcon Lake” in Directors’ Fortnight and Kristoffer Borgli’s “Sick of Myself” in Un Certain Regard. Abed, who is based in the U.K., produced “Call Me By Your Name” with Georges under their other production banner La Cinefacture and has been building Paradise City’s roster for over a year. So far, the outfit...