Justin Kurzel, the director behind True History of the Kelly Gang and The Snowtown Murders, has found a cast for his next feature, Nitram, which centers around the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania.  

Get Out star Caleb Landry Jones will join The Dressmaker’s Judy Davis, The Babadook lead Essie Davis, and Annabelle Creation‘s Anthony LaPaglia in the new film. The screenplay was written by Shaun Grant, who previously worked with Kurzel when he wrote True History of the Kelly Gang and The Snowtown Murders. 

Nitram will focus on the events leading up to one of the darkest chapters in Australian history in an attempt to understand the meaning of the atrocity and how it happened. The film received funding from the Melbourn International Film Festival and is set to premiere at the festival in 2021. 

Stan, an Australian VOD service, will premiere the film as an original release on its platform on the same day as it releases in theaters. GoodThing Productions’ Nick Baztias and Virginia Whitwell are producing, and Madman Entertainment is handling theatrical distribution. Wild Bunch International is handling sales. 

Kurzel’s last film, True History of the Kelly Gang, received praise from critics when it released earlier this year, earning a certified fresh %79 critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. The film’s all-star cast included Russell Crowe, Charlie Hunnam, Nicholas Hoult and George MacKay.