Una was one of the most powerful films your correspondent took in at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival – yet it’s taken over a year to make its way to a theater anywhere near you. That probably shouldn’t come as a surprise; the subject matter is, to put it mildly, a tough sell. Adapted by David Harrower from his play Blackbird, it concerns a young woman (Rooney Mara) who tracks down the older man (Ben Mendelsohn) who sexually abused her years before. He’s now started over, with a new name, a new wife, and a new life; she reappears, wanting answers and… well, that’s what the movie’s about.
Director Benedict Andrews takes this charged, mostly two-person dialogue (though Riz Ahmed turns up in a brief supporting role) and transforms it into a tense, tough, and surprisingly cinematic experience. Una is finally getting a theatrical release this fall, from Swen Releasing (a Latin American distributor making their way into the States; this is their third U.S. theatrical release), and here’s your first trailer:
Una opens in New York on October 6, followed by Los Angeles on October 13 and a national rollout this fall.