Hoyeon Jung is not slowing down. From joining Alfonso Cuaron’s prestige drama series to appearing in The Weeknd’s newest video, Hoyeon stays busy. And she’s adding to her list of upcoming projects with The Governesses, a film adaptation of Anne Serre’s novel of the same name. Hoyeon will co-star with Lily-Rose Depp and Renate Reinsve—breakout star of The Worst Person in the World—as one of three governesses caring for a group of boys at an idyllic country estate. I read this book a while back and I LOVE THIS CASTING. I can perfectly see these actors in these three roles, I just wonder who is playing whom.
When I read The Governesses, it reminded me of Peter Strickland’s film The Duke of Burgundy, in that it’s a sexy story that’s not really about sex so much as everything that surrounds sex—power, desire, shame. The adaption will be written and directed by Joe Talbot, the filmmaker behind The Last Black Man in San Francisco, which was Jonathan Majors’s breakout film, and it’s backed by A24, one of the only production companies to have its own fandom. I’m very curious to see how Talbot approaches adapting the novel, which is short and tart. And I’m very curious to see what else Hoyeon has in store. She is capitalizing on her moment for sure, and she seems to have a “start exclusive, stay exclusive” approach. So far, she’s got Alfonso Cuaron—established, admired—and Joe Talbot—exciting, fresh—on her dance card. Who’s next?