Jason Isaacs and Peter Fellows team up for World War II dark comedy, Bad Major
Fellows, best known for his work on HBO’s Veep and Avenue 5 as well as the critically acclaimed features The Death of Stalin and The Personal History of David Copperfield, makes his feature directorial debut with the film.
Set against the summer of 1942, as war rages in Europe, the period comedy follows the family of a teenage boy who is away fighting at the front. In a bid to secure his safety, they welcome his volatile commanding officer into their rural village home. The sociopathic army major rapidly forces them to abide by his insane obsessive rules and the family is pushed to absurd and devastating extremes in the name of love.
The film is based on The Tót Family novella by acclaimed Hungarian writer István Örkény, known for his absurdist and grotesque storytelling which in turn drew on his time in Soviet labor camp in World War Two.
“I’m thrilled to be making Bad Major with this fantastic ensemble of brilliantly funny, powerful actors,” said Fellows. “Based on István Örkény’s masterpiece of psychological warfare, family dynamics and cultural conditioning, my adaptation will ground these themes within a properly funny, heart-wrenching film about desperation, loss and the absurd lengths to which human beings will go to in order to protect the ones they love.”
The film will be produced by Jon Tarcy (The Effects of Lying) and Ildikó Kemény (Poor Things, Orphan), with Kevin Loader (The Choral, In The Loop) and Mike Goodridge (Sisu, The Ballad of a Small Player) serving as executive producers.
“Led by a terrific ensemble, Peter Fellows’ signature wit, and a creative team behind some of the standout comedies of recent years, Bad Major blends sharp humor with strong audience appeal to explore the frightening lengths love can push us to. We look forward to introducing the film to buyers during EFM,” said Global Constellation Managing Director Film Fabien Westerhoff.