With filming now underway in London, Black Bear has shared a first-look image of Oscar-winner Angelina Jolie in Anxious People, director Marc Forster’s (Monster’s Ball, Christopher Robin) adaptation of Fredrik Backman’s New York Times bestselling novel.
In Anxious People, the day before Christmas Eve, investment banker Zara begrudgingly finds herself mingling with a group of strangers at an open house. When a reluctant bank robber, Grace, inadvertently takes the group hostage, chaos and oversharing ensues, secrets are revealed, and literally nothing goes according to plan. It is a poignant, charming film about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined. Through an ingeniously constructed story, Anxious People explores the enduring power of friendship, forgiveness, and hope—the things that save us, even in the most anxious times.
Anxious People reunites Forster with screenwriter David Magee (Life of Pi) following their collaboration on A Man Called Oto (itself an adaptation of Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove), and sees Jolie starring alongside Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother) and Aimee Lou Wood (The White Lotus). Expect a 2026 release.
