While Ethan Coen has boarded a rather unexciting lesbian-police series with his wife, his brother Joel Coen has not directed a film since his acclaimed Macbeth from 2021. But in fact, as World of Reel confirms, he already has one ready and apparently shot in secret, Jack of Spades, whose filming wrapped in Glasgow in November 2025. The problem is that it has not yet appeared at festivals or in theaters. In the meantime, however, we already know the cast, the plot, and the source of the story, namely a Gothic novel from 1901. One of the leads, Lesley Manville, had told Deadline that the movie would come out by year’s end, but it is more likely we will see it in 2027. Variety had reported a first screening for the Studios, in an initial cut of about 150 minutes. While we await more details, here is a synopsis of the plot and what has been reported about Jack of Spades.
Jack of Spades: Joel Coen’s New Film
The considerably impressive cast of Jack of Spades includes Broadway actress Patsy Ferran, who, it seems, thrilled those who attended the early reserved screenings, along with the aforementioned Manville, and also features Josh O’Connor, Frances McDormand, and Damian Lewis. As for the plot, it is a Gothic mystery set in Scotland in 1880. The screenplay appears to be adapted from the little-known 1901 novel by Frances Frederica Montrésor, “The Alien: A Story of Middle Age.” The book’s story, according to online summaries, centers on Esther Mordaunt (Ferran), a woman in her thirties, who travels to Applehurst, a stern Georgian residence that guards ancient secrets. There she encounters the sharp and fashionable world of her cousin, and a man who has lived a thousand lives aboard ships, in battles, and on distant shores. The mysterious man (O’Connor) could be a ghost, since one of the story’s women maintains that he is her son, who died thirty years earlier. The cinematography for Jack of Spades is by Bruno Delbonnel, who has collaborated with both Coens on Inside Llewyn Davis and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and who also crafted the striking black-and-white imagery for Macbeth, while the score is by Carter Burwell, who has essentially scored all of their films. The screenplay is by Joel Coen, based on an initial draft by Eleanor Catton, author also of the Emma screenplay. We, who adore the Gothic atmospheres of English novels, eagerly await the release of this Joel Coen film, which is proving, among the two brothers, to be the more intellectual one, closer to European stories and sensibilities.
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