French filmmaker Mia Hansen-Løve has assembled an ensemble cast for her upcoming historical biographical drama If Love Should Die, starring Renate Reinsve alongside Johnny Flynn and Vicky Krieps.
The production, which Goodfellas is launching for international sales at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival, also features Charlie Kelly, Will Keen, Tom Sturridge, and Jane Beever in supporting roles. The project marks Hansen-Løve’s ninth feature film and her first English-language production since 2021’s Bergman Island, which previously starred Krieps.
Set in England and across Europe on the eve of the French Revolution, If Love Should Die chronicles the final twelve years in the life of 18th-century English philosopher, writer, and early feminist advocate Mary Wollstonecraft, best known for authoring A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and as the mother of Frankenstein author Mary Shelley. The screenplay depicts Wollstonecraft’s transformation from an impoverished governess into an independent intellectual defying social norms to sustain herself entirely through writing.
Hansen-Løve’s key creative team includes cinematographer Claire Mathon (Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Spencer), regular editor Marion Monnier, production designer Mela Melak (A Real Pain), and costume designer Louise Stanton (The Quiet Girl).
The feature is structured as a multi-country European co-production spanning France, Ireland, Norway, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Sweden. Producers include David Thion for Les Films Pelléas, Patrick O’Neill and Conor Barry for Wildcard, María Zamora for Elastica Films, Maria Ekerhovd for Mer Film, Joshua Horsfield and Saskia Duff for Intake Films, alongside Thembisa Cochrane and Georgie Paget for Caspian Films. RT Features and Anonymous Content are financing the film alongside Leone Film Group and Artists Haven, with MUBI having financed initial development. Anonymous Content and CAA Media Finance are handling domestic distribution rights.
Principal photography is slated to take place across locations in the United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Norway, and Sweden.
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