After two seasons of scheming away as Frank Underwood’s whip-smart wife Claire on Netflix’s hit political drama House of Cards, Robin Wright has more than earned our attention. That’s not to say, however, that her next film, an adaptation of The Congress directed by Ari Folman, isn’t a gamble. Loosely based on the book by Stanislaw Lem, The Congress centers on an aging Hollywood starlet (Wright, playing a version of herself) who, in order to pay for her son’s medical treatments, agrees to sell her likeness to a studio in the form of a digital persona which can star in movies for them.
It’s a tricky, unconventional premise, and the movie looks extremely interesting, if mind-bending. Today, we’ve got six new shots from The Congress in addition to a new poster. None of the images really shed any more light on the movie’s plot, but they at least highlight that, in addition to Wright, Harvey Keitel’s in this flick. Not pictured below: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jon Hamm, Danny Huston and Paul Giamatti.
The official plot synopsis reads as follows:
More than two decades after catapulting to stardom with The Princess Bride, an aging actress (Robin Wright, playing a version of herself) decides to take her final job: preserving her digital likeness for a future Hollywood. Through a deal brokered by her loyal, longtime agent (Harvey Keitel) and the head of Miramount Studios (Danny Huston), her alias will be controlled by the studio, and will star in any film they want with no restrictions. In return, she receives healthy compensation so she can care for her ailing son and her digitized character will stay forever young. Twenty years later, under the creative vision of the studio’s head animator (Jon Hamm), Wright’s digital double rises to immortal stardom. With her contract expiring, she is invited to take part in “The Congress” convention as she makes her comeback straight into the world of future fantasy cinema.
The Congress arrives on iTunes and VOD July 15th, in select theaters on August 29th, and in New York on September 5th.
