Amanda Seyfried Directs a Troubled Opera, Tackling Trauma and Pain in the Trailer for Atom Egoyan’s New Psychological Thriller “Seven Veils”

Amanda Seyfried Stars as a Haunted Theater Director in Atom Egoyan’s Psychological Opera Thriller About Art, Trauma, and Obsession

Putting on an opera for the world to see is stressful enough, but adding a personal touch to the project could drive a theater director to the brink of insanity. Amanda Seyfried reteams with renowned Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan for a new film about a theater director who plunges into the deepest depths of her soul as she attempts to direct a haunting production of Salome.

Seven Veils is the latest meditative thriller from Atom Egoyan, who previously collaborated with Seyfried on the 2009 sexually charged adultery thriller Chloe, alongside Julianne Moore and Liam Neeson. Egoyan is perhaps best known for directing provocative psychological thrillers like Exotica (1994), The Sweet Hereafter (1997), and Felicia's Journey (1999). If there’s one common thread running through all of Egoyan’s work, it’s his fascination with the human psychology of characters enduring great pain, stress, and grief.

Egoyan returns to these recurring themes with his latest film, as Seyfried takes on the role of Jeanine, an accomplished theater director returning to work after experiencing great personal loss. She chooses to tackle an adaptation of the classic opera Salome. Based on the 1891 Oscar Wilde play and the 1905 opera, Salome draws from the biblical story of Salome, John the Baptist, and King Herod. Salome, the stepdaughter of King Herod, performs a seductive dance that leads to the beheading of John the Baptist, a prophet with whom she has become dangerously obsessed.

In the film, Seyfried's Jeanine throws every ounce of herself into this new production while haunted by the dark memories of past and previously experienced trauma.

"I've been asked to make this personal, so I will," Seyfried's Jeanine says at the start of the newly-released trailer for Seven Veils (watch it above). "Something terrible may happen," she warns.

The film is written and directed by Egoyan, who is also an accomplished theater director himself and has directed a number of operas in his career, which started with a 1996 production of Salome.

In the film, Seyfried's Jeanine descends into a chaotic whirlwind of equal parts emotions and stress as she tries to get her stage production off the ground and ready for opening night. The film was actually shot on the same stage during the same time that the Canadian Opera Company was remounting a revival of Salome. Many of the same opera singers (Michael Kupfer-Radecky, Ambur Braid) were used in the film as well.

Co-starring Rebecca Liddiard, Douglas Smith, Mark O'Brien, Vinessa Antoine, and Maia Jae Bastidas, the film premiered last year at the Berlin International Film Festival. It also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival last September, where it received some good notices from critics.

Seven Veils is now set to open in theaters on March 7th.