Matt Smith joins Daniel Kokotajlo's upcoming supernatural horror 'Starve Acre'

Ahead of major roles in both 'House of the Dragon' and the superhero film Morbius, actor Matt Smith has been cast in supernatural horror 'Starve Acre'.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the BAFTA and Emmy nominee will star alongside Morfydd Clark, a Welsh actor who broke as the lead of the critically acclaimed psychological horror 'Saint Maud' and has spent the last few years filming Amazon's 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power'.

Based on the novel by Andrew Michael Hurley, 'Starve Acre' is the much anticipated second feature from BAFTA Award-nominated writer and director Daniel Kokotajlo, who's made waves with his 2017 directorial debut 'Apostasy'.

Cornerstone has come on board to handle worldwide sales following their successful collaboration with 'Apostasy' and will launch the project at the Berlin Film Festival's virtual European Film Market (EFM).

Billed as a modern horror exploring inherited trauma and loss within a world ruled by supernatural folklore, 'Starve Acre' is set in rural 1970s England, where a couple's seemingly idyllic family life is thrown into turmoil when their son starts acting out of character, creating an insurmountable wedge between the once happy couple.

At Starve Acre, their remote family home, archaeologist Richard buries himself in exploring a folkloric myth that the ancient oak tree on their land is imbued with phenomenal powers. While his wife Juliette turns to the local community to find some kind of peace, Richard obsessively digs deeper.

An unexpected discovery soon occupies the couple's attention and dark and sinister forces, unwittingly allowed into the home, offer a disturbing possibility of reconnection between them.

'Starve Acre' is a House Productions film and is produced by BAFTA winner and Emmy Award nominee Tessa Ross, Emmy nominee Juliette Howell and Emma Duffy. The film was developed with BBC Film and is funded by Access Entertainment together with BBC Film and the British Film Institute.

It is currently in pre-production and will start shooting later this spring in the U.K. House Productions was launched in 2016 by Ross and Juliette Howell and was fully acquired by BBC Studios at the end of 2021.

"Daniel is one of the most exciting filmmakers working today, and we're thrilled to be bringing his adaptation of Andrew Michael Hurley's extraordinary novel to the screen," said Ross.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Cornerstone's Alison Thompson and Mark Gooder commented, "Daniel's haunting cinematic vision for 'Starve Acre' is breathtaking, and we're excited to be able to continue our collaboration with him."

( With inputs from ANI )