Biopics have a tendency to lure the attention of audiences, and more often than not, keep it in a positive light. These projects tell the tale of lives of prominent individuals, and being offered the opportunity to look underneath the hood and see the struggles they’ve had to endure is one most viewers can’t pass on. Wildcat is a new biopic in that same pipeline, and the film has released its first image.

Wildcat is set to explore the painfully short but fervently impactful life of Southern writer Flannery O’Connor. The biopic will cover her days as a struggling up-and-coming novelist before going on to write several novels, including A Good Man Is Hard to Find, and Other Stories, arguably the author’s most notable work and magnum opus. Wildcat stars Maya Hawke as O’Connor and the actress is featured as the renowned author in the first image. The image shows Hawke‘s O’Connor perusing a piece of paper in front of her mailbox.

The production of Wildcat will offer the opportunity for a father and daughter working relationship, with Ethan Hawke directing his daughter in his latest directorial effort. It would mark the first time the father has directed the Stranger Things star in production. “Maya has been working hard for years to put this project together, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to introduce a new generation of filmgoers to the genius of Flannery O’Connor,” Hawke said about the project when it was announced. “Her work explores themes important to all artists — the intersection of creativity and faith, the blurred relationship between imagination and reality.”

Who Was Flannery O’Connor?

Diagnosed with lupus and battling it for a number of years, the author was a devout Catholic from Milledgeville, Georgia who was invited to the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Workshop. O’Connor went on to fame for her short fiction stories about faith and the American South, which were usually seen as offbeat. Her works force readers to undergo a sometimes deep, harsh and revealing introspection of oneself. Having died at 39, much of her fame has been posthumous, however, just like with her writings, her character has been questioned in recent times.

Hawke directs off a script co-written by Shelby Gaines. with the biopic boasting a star-studded cast comprised of Vincent D’Onofrio, Steve Zahn, and Laura Linney who stars as Flannery‘s mother. Wildcat premieres at TIFF in September.

via Collider