Melissa Barrera is saddling up for a new Western thriller, In the Cradle of Granite. The Scream star will appear in the film which is set against the unforgiving landscape of the late 1800s American frontier. In the film, Barrera will play a young mother on a desperate quest for survival. The movie also marks the English-language debut of acclaimed Costa Rican director Ariel Escalante (Domingo and the Mist), who directs from a script by Jay Holmes.

The movie is produced by Joel David Moore, Rishi Bajaj, and Daniel Taborga of Balcony 9 Productions—whose upcoming projects include Bride Hard and Immaculate Room—the film also boasts Jonathan Sadowski and Daniel Pancotto of Ad Lunam Entertainment among its production team. Executive producers Chase Hinton, Lynette Gurule-Thomas, and Michael Thomas round out the crew.

The film continues Barrera’s hot streak in Hollywood, with recent releases like Your Monster, a horror rom-com from Vertical that premiered at Sundance, and her role in Universal Pictures‘ Abigail. She also stars in the upcoming drama The Collaboration, exploring the friendship between Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, and a new thriller series from James Wan and Simu Liu on Peacock. Barrera was removed from her role in the Scream series last year in highly contentious circumstances, which sparked a massive backlash amongst fans of the series, who will be pleased to see her continue to do well.

Why Did Melissa Barrera Choose ‘In the Cradle of Granite’?

Speaking about the collaboration, Barrera expressed her excitement, telling Deadline, “Ariel is a beautifully poetic filmmaker and I am honored to join him in his English-language debut. We are both very intentional in the narratives we choose to tell and seek to entertain while giving life to characters and situations that serve as a mirror for society. Jay Holmes’ script is thrilling and hypnotizing, and I can’t wait to bring it to the big screen along with the teams at Ad Lunam and Balcony 9.”

Escalante added to the excitement, stating:

“I find Jay Holmes’ script to be the perfect opportunity to bring my directorial vision to the United States. And working alongside such a strong and amazing actress like Melissa Barrera only fuels my desire to turn this into both an exciting contemporary take on the western genre and a bold reflection on colonial violence.”

Stay tuned to Collider for more updates as In the Cradle of Granite heads into production, and to keep up to date on Melissa Barrera.

via Collider