Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark to Star in New Horror Film Starve Acre

Morfydd Clark, the Saint Maud star who will play Galadriel in the forthcoming Amazon TV adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, is set to star alongside Doctor Who standout Matt Smith in Starve Acre, a new horror film from Apostasy director Daniel Kokotajlo. The film is based on the novel by Andrew Michael Hurley, which centers on a couple who are driven to the edge of madness after the death of their young son.

Smith will take on the role as he is about to head back into the public eye in a big way, with roles in Morbius and House of the Dragon. It marks the second film from Kokotajlo, who was nominated for a BAFTA for Apostasy. Starve Acre is in pre-production now, and set to begin filming this spring in the U.K. Clark has also appeared in The Man Who Invented Christmas alongside Legion star Dan Stevens.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, who first broke the news, 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.