.png)
"Powerfully acted, Rebel Wilson as you've never seen her before"
The Guilty Feminist
"An absorbing, terrifically-acted slice of cinema"
Film Stories
★★★★
"Rebel Wilson’s best performance to date"
Movie Reviews 101
Picnik Entertainment in association with Mad As Birds Films are excited to announce that, 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."
The Almond and the Seahorse is available on digital platforms now!
ORDER YOUR COPY HERE!
Distributor: Picnik Entertainment
Digital Release: 30th September
Synopsis: 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’.
Producers: Andy Evans, Alex Ashworth, Sean Marley, Alison Brister
Executive Producers: Laure Vaysse for Harcourt Capital, Bizzy Day and Pauline Burt for Ffilm Cymru Wales, Phil Hunt and Compton Ross for Head Gear, Nicola Pearcey for Picnik Entertainment Ltd, with Stephen Kelliher and Yana Georgieva for Bankside Films and Eddie Izzard.
Cast: Rebel Wilson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Trine Dyrholm, Celyn Jones, Meera Syal, Ruth Madeley, Alice Lowe
Rating: 15
About Picnik Entertainment
Picnik is a UK-based venture, partnering with media companies, to help them grow commercially from early development of IP through to distribution. In 2024 Picnik became an FDA-approved film distributor in addition to executive producing TV and Film content. Vindication Swim, Swede Caroline and The Almond and The Seahorse have all been released theatrically and are now in or entering their digital windows.
The company is spearheaded by Nicola Pearcey, previously at Lionsgate (President, UK & Europe), Disney & MGM. Nicola is on the board for Film London.
About Mad As Birds
Mad as Birds Films is a critically acclaimed and award winning independent film and TV production company based in the UK. Since 2014 MAB has been committed to developing and delivering high quality storytelling, consistently attracting globally recognised talent to every production.
Projects include the critically acclaimed SET FIRE TO THE STARS (Elijah Wood, Celyn Jones), directed by Andy Goddard. BAFTA/BIFA nominated psychological thriller THE VANISHING (Gerard Butler, Peter Mullan, Connor Swindells), directed by Kristoffer Nyholm.
Feel-good comedy, POMS (Diane Keaton, Jacki Weaver) directed by Zara Hayes. Period thriller SIX MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT (Judi Dench, Eddie Izzard, Jim Broadbent) directed by Andy Goddard.
Psychedelic horror RABBIT TRAP (Dev Patel, Rose McEwen) directed by Bryn Chainey and produced with SpectreVision will be revealed to the world later this year.
In Television, MAB produced the Rose D’Or nominated GALWAD for Sky Arts, directed by Eric Styles (THE PACT) starring Alex Riley (TORCHWOOD).
Comments