Kodi Smit-McPhee, Djimon Hounsou to Star in ‘The Zealot,’ WestEnd Launching Vadim Perelman Thriller in Cannes (EXCLUSIVE)
Alex Ritman Oscar nominees Kodi Smit-McPhee (“The Power of the Dog, “Maria”) and Djimon Hounsou (“Blood Diamond,” “A Quiet Place Part II”) are set to star in claustrophobic thriller “The Zealot.” The two-hander, being introduced to buyers in Cannes by WestEnd Films, comes from director Vadim Perelman (“House of Sand and Fog,” “Persian Lessons”) working from a screenplay by Bennett Fisher, and touches on themes involving privilege, paranoia, and the assumptions we make about one another. “The Zealot” follows Hassan, a Somali-American airport shuttle driver in Minneapolis, who is struggling to make ends meet. When Lloyd, a stranded twentysomething at the airport, offers to pay Hassan to take him overland to Chicago, it seems worth the risk.