Following a theatrical release earlier this year, the award-winning (Best feature – Dinard Festival du Film Britannique) Rebel Wilson-led drama The Almond and the Seahorse will be available on digital platforms from 30th September.
Hailed as “Wilson’s best performance to date” by Movie Reviews 101, the film, based on the play of the same name, showcases an incredible cast led by Rebel Wilson (Pitch Perfect Trilogy) alongside Charlotte Gainsbourg (Melancholia), award-winning Danish actress Trine Dyrholm (Margrete: Queen of the North), Celyn Jones (Set Fire to the Stars), Meera Syal (Yesterday), Ruth Madeley (Doctor Who) and Alice Lowe (Prevenge).
Speaking about the film Rebel Wilson said, “I’m so proud of this great gem of a film that dives into the important subject of traumatic brain injury. It’s such a departure for me artistically after having done mainly commercial comedy films in America, it was a challenge to do something so very different, but I just adored working with Cel and Charlotte, Trine and Meera on this beautiful piece.”
The ‘almond’ and the ‘seahorse’ are the nicknames given to the parts of our brains that lay down new memories and hold on to the old ones effectively underpinning what makes us us. After a TBI (a traumatic brain injury) these parts can shift creating a new you … causing the ones who love us the most to get locked in the past.
Sarah (Rebel Wilson) is an archaeologist who loves her husband Joe (Celyn Jones) but after a TBI their love is trapped in the past. Toni (Charlotte Gainsbourg) is an architect and loves her partner Gwen (Trine Dyrholm) but after a TBI they have been imprisoned in a fifteen-year loop. Love is the only thing that keeps them all going but something has changed and they need more help. Both women are on a parallel course, both want a future but neither know if it is possible or what that may look like. As Dr Falmer (Meera Syal) puts it ‘they’re the brains I can’t mend’.
Playwright Kaite O’Reilly co-wrote The Almond and the Seahorse screenplay alongside Celyn Jones who also served as first-time co-director with Tom Stern (cinematographer on Million Dollar Baby, American Sniper).
The film explores the complex and very human relationships of two couples as they try to navigate a new life together or attempt to explore a life apart after TBI changes everything. The Almond and the Seahorse dives into stories of TBI sufferers but also doesn’t shy away from focusing on the characters without brain damage, but who have to carry the heart damage.
Speaking about the release Co-writer/director Celyn Jones said “Bringing The Almond and The Seahorse into the home enables a broader audience to watch the film and witness the astounding performances from our leading ladies – Charlotte Gainsbourg, Trine Dyrholm and of course Rebel Wilson. The film entertains, is emotional and funny in equal measure and we hope anyone going through similar circumstances with a loved one can find comfort in what the film portrays. We wanted to showcase love in its rawest form and the universal highs and lows associated with life itself.“
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