The Thing with Feathers (2025)

[BluBonnet]

This upcoming feature starring Benedict Cumberbatch is being described as what you'd get "if Ken Loach dreamed up The Babadook" - and I'm absolutely here for it!

‘The Thing With Feathers’ Review: Benedict Cumberbatch Fights His Dark Side In A Powerful Portrayal Of Grief

Crows rustle in Dylan Southern’s fiction feature debut, the haunting story of a middle-aged man coming to terms with the sudden and unexpected death of his wife, the mother of his two boys. In terms of genre, it’s hard to place, sitting somewhere between social drama and heightened horror; if Ken Loach dreamed up The Babadook, it might look something like this. Southern—previously known for such heady, experiential and you-are-there music docs as Shut Up and Play the Hits (2012) and Meet Me in the Bathroom (2022)—brings the visceral immediacy of those films to a very raw and emotional subject matter. For all the artistry behind it, however, The Thing with Feathers will likely prove divisive; for survivors of trauma, it will likely be cathartic, but for others more fortunate, its pitch-perfect portrayal of loss might be a touch too uncomfortable.

[BluBonnet]

How the Who inspired a key scene in Benedict Cumberbatch's new movie, The Thing With Feathers

The Thing With Feathers may be based on a book, but it also takes inspiration from an unlikely source — the album cover of the Who's 1979 album, The Kids Are Alright.

The film premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on Saturday night, and director Dylan Southern revealed the album's role in influencing a striking tableau in the film during a post-screening Q&A.

The film follows Dad (Benedict Cumberbatch), a young widower who is struggling to cope with raising his two sons in the wake of his wife's sudden death. His grief manifests as a gigantic crow that stalks through his home, serving as both a frightening specter and protector. As Crow takes on more of the latter role, a scene depicts Crow seated in the center of a sofa with Cumberbatch on one side of him and the two boys on the other, all wrapped within the safety of Crow's wings.

The scene is a direct reference to a moment in Max Porter's novella, which is the source material for the film. But it's also Southern's tribute to an iconic British rock band.

"There's a really cool picture of the Who on the cover of The Kids Are Alright where they're wrapped in the Union Jack," Southern said. "And that was my reference for that."

[Martoto]

I've already seen The Thing With Feathers

(I think I'd rather see an adaptation of Woody Allen's Without Feathers)

[BluBonnet]

Acquired by Briarcliff Entertainment; goes wide Oct. 31st.

[Zivouhr]

The Babadook movie was interesting about the mother and her son's book reflecting reality, although I didn't find it scary so hopefully this might be, if this is a horror film. Seems interesting.