It’s always an intriguing start when a film project launches from the minds of a real-life couple.Magpiecredits Tom Bateman as its writer, but his wifeDaisy Ridley(Star Wars, Young Woman and the Sea) helped him conceive the idea from the get-go, as we recently learned. MovieWeb spoke with Ridley amid the release oftheir gripping neo-noirand opened up about their hands-on collaborative process through bringing the film to life on the page, including a wildly surprising twist in the third act (no spoilers).
“Because I was so part of it all, I was really seeing it sort of come together in real time, and I knew what Tom was writing was great, and I knew if we particularly got great people, we would really care about these characters and be invested enough to think, ‘What the f*** is going on, and where is it going?'” Ridley told us about creating her new film. She continued:
“Much of the payoff of act three is how the rest of the film is shot and how everything is captured. And perspective-wise, you know, you’re questioning whether what you’re watching is true and reliable, and so much of that is how it’s captured and the sort of suffocating nature of particularly what [my character] Anette is going through… But certainly seeing it was nice… Hearing people’s responses to the last 20 minutes of the film is fantastic.”
Daisy Ridley & Tilda Cobham-Hervey on Their Sisterly Bond in Young Woman and the Sea
Ridley and co-star Tilda Cobham-Herve spoke to MovieWeb about brushing shoulders with Hollywood heavyweights and portraying sisters on the big screen.
Ridley also opened up about why her collaborative process with Bateman (a star in his own right, who played Bouc in Kenneth Branagh’s new Agatha Christie movies) is so uniquely effective. “I suppose it could be difficult in many ways, but I think the main reason it works with us is we have really similar taste in film. We know what we like, and we love watching all sorts of different things. And when we talk at length about what we’re watching, and even if we don’t entirely agree, it’s always a really interesting conversation because, of course, we’re all bringing our own individual perspective to what we’re seeing.” She added:
Certainly with this, we really wanted to make a fun film, and so much of it is really difficult, but we really wanted there to be a layer of fun and that discomfort to feel horribly funny. And because we were so clear on our end goal, it was really a great process.
Related:Magpie Review: Daisy Ridley’s Seductive Neo-Noir Slow-Burn
Daisy Ridley Was Less Inhibited with Her Husband Not on Set
TV fans might also recognize Ridley’s husband Bateman from Peacock’sBased on a True Story, the second season of which kept him busy whileMagpiewas also shooting. Ridley confirmed to us thatnothaving her partner on set of this latest film of hers was actually, in fact, helpful. “That was precisely the moment where it ended up being really good, because I think I would have felt a little inhibited,” she said, explaining:
He’s come to set to watch me in other things, but because of the nature of this role in particular, and because it’s all so personal anyway, it was quite good to actually have that physical distance, particularly because he was able to watch the dailies and actually give feedback as someone that wasn’t there.
“Because often,” added Ridley, “when you go into a movie, you think, ‘Well, it looks great, it feels great. Is it translating?’ And certainly for him to every day be watching the rushes and saying ‘yes’ was another layer of comfort that we were capturing what we had hoped we were.“From Shout! Studios,Magpiewill be released in select theaters starting Jul 10, 2025.
When Ben and Anette’s daughter is cast in a film alongside glamorous movie star, Alicia, Ben is quickly drawn into Alicia’s world. As he becomes more intoxicated with Alicia and their affair intensifies, Anette is left at home with the baby, pushed to her emotional limits and psychologically on the brink.
