It’s official. Zoë Kravitz, the actor, model and i-D cover star, has finished work on her first movie as a director. The project, titled Pussy Island, is currently in post-production. Rumour has it the film has test-screened, and audiences are calling it “a total white knuckle thrill ride”.
The film has been in the works for four years, and shot last summer in Mexico. “As a woman in general, and a woman in this industry, I’ve experienced some pretty wild behaviour from the opposite sex,” Zoë told Deadline in an interview at the time. “The title was kind of a joke at first, this place where people would go, bring women, party and hang out. The story evolved into something else, but the title wound up having multiple meanings. And it alludes to this time and place we claim to not be in anymore, in terms of sexual politics.”
She continued: “People are evolving and changing but there is still a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths from past behaviour. It’s a nod to that, but it’s also playful, and a really playful film in a lot of ways. I like that the title leads with that and has some heavy meaning beneath it.”
But what is this mysterious movie actually about? And who will we see in front of the camera? And how did these audiences react to the film? Here’s all the information we know so far.
What is the plot of Pussy Island?
The story follows Frida, an LA-based cocktail waitress with lofty ambitions and the confidence to achieve them. At a party, she runs into a mega-rich tech mogul called Slater King (that’s Channing Tatum!) and strikes up a conversation. Their kinship leads Frida into Slater’s mega-rich inner circle, and she visits the island where he and his friends all frolic. But when she gets there, the luxurious veneer starts to wear off, exposing a more troubling problem underneath.
Who is in the cast?
We’ve known for a while now that everybody’s favourite heartthrob, Channing Tatum, is set to play the male lead. Opposite him, London actor Naomi Ackie will be the movie’s “young and clever” cocktail waitress protagonist. The cast now also includes Simon Rex (Scary Movie), Heathers star Christian Slater, Alia Shawkat (Search Party) and Geena Davis as well as Adria Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, Liz Caribel Sierra, Levon Hawke, Trew Mullen, Saul Williams, Cris Costa and Kyle MacLachlan.
Who will be behind the camera?
It’s Zoë K herself! The film is based on a script written by Zoë and her High Fidelity co-writer, E.T. Feigenbaum. However, Zoë and Channing worked through the script together at times, honing the male character to be what Channing has called “an extremely committed version — psychotic possibly — but an extreme version of myself”.
What were the audience reviews like of Pussy Island?
According to World of Reel, someone has seen a cut of the film at a test screening (Note: test screenings are rarely the finished version of the film). The person who sent over their two cents said: “I was absolutely floored. It’s a total white knuckle thrill ride, especially the final 30 minutes; such nail biting tension…” They added that it “pushes all kinds of boundaries with its provocative take on the ‘battle of the sexes’.”
Apparently it’s a good moment for Channing too. The person said that he “has never been this good (or genuinely menacing, seriously got a gasp from me towards the end when he delivers a monologue) and the rest of the cast shine just as much.” It also gave them “major Green Room vibes” — a reference to the 2015 A24 movie about a man trying to protect himself from a murderous Neo-Nazi punk band — “with the ratcheting of the suspense and onslaught of the violence”. Sounds unhinged.
What’s the film’s release date?
Test screenings can happen for movies anywhere from a year to a month prior to release, so we don’t know for sure when we’ll see Pussy Island. Keep an eye out at the fall film festivals; maybe it will crop up there.