Separation (2021 film)

An illustrator named Jeff Vahn is forced into divorce by his wife, Maggie. After their daughter, Jenny, falls from an attic board while Jeff is not watching her, Maggie grows even more angered by him and makes it her mission to not allow Jenny to be around him until he gets his life in order. During the divorce case, Maggie tries in vain to become closer to Jenny, who has a strained relationship with her, and Jeff is reminiscing about his earlier days of marriage and fatherhood.

Distraught at the possibility of losing the divorce case and failing at his career, Jeff considers signing to all of Maggie's agreements, mentally hitting rock bottom. He calls Maggie to speak about the conditions and the two argue, but while Maggie is wrapped up in the arguing she is fatally run over. Much time later the funeral is disastrous as Jeff's father-in-law Paul Rivers makes a scene at the funeral and Jenny is unable to understand that Maggie has died. As Jeff gives a thoughtless eulogy, an unwanted portrait of the family which Maggie was known to dislike lights on fire, suspiciously melting only the painted face of Jeff and leaving the other members of the family untouched.

Since then, strange happenings occur around the house, and Jeff has recurring nightmares of spirits lurking around their house. Meanwhile, as Jenny begins to understand the consequences of death, she grows distant from her father, and Paul prepares to sue Jeff for custody after seeing his tactless treatment of Jenny. Jenny reverts to state of depression and begins acting strange, and Jeff loses his job and is unable to successfully comfort or help her. In hopes of getting employed again Jeff reaches out to an old friend for a smaller job opportunity. In a trance Jeff draws a peculiar figure, and it is shown that the same figure is watching over Jenny.

Jeff hires a babysitter named Samantha Nally to watch over Jenny as he begins work in his new career. Samantha attempts to be a mother figure to Jenny, much to her disdain as she sinks deeper into depression. The house is revealed to be inhabited by spirits who possess some of Jenny's puppet toys, and Jeff keeps reverting into trances where he draws frightening creatures who the spirits bring to life. However, these spirits begin interacting with Jenny, and when she tries to tell Samantha, she realizes that she is the only one who can see them. However, despite his inability to truly see the spirits, Jeff realizes what is going on, and he begins to suspect that the ghosts are controlled by Maggie, who is haunting him as punishment for his anger towards her and tactless treatment of Jenny.

It is shown, however, that Samantha actually is in love with Jeff; she even was the one who ran over Maggie because she believed she was protecting Jeff from Maggie. Now believing that Jenny is keeping Samantha from making a move on Jeff, she attempts to poison Jenny, but is unsuccessful. The still-unhappy Jenny, who is unaware of Samantha’s psychosis, starts to find solace in the ghost of her mother, who truly has come back for revenge and is the leader of the other ghosts— however, the revenge is to be against Samantha, not Jeff.

Maggie successfully kills Samantha, and Jenny’s mental state seems to improve because with Samantha gone she can spend more time with her mother’s spirit. One day, Jenny goes up the attic to talk with Maggie, but she slips and Jeff attempts to catch her, and they both free-fall through the attic floor, only to find out they are uninjured, much to their surprise. The movie ends by showing that Maggie saved both of them from the fall.

• Rupert Friend as Jeff Vahn
• Mamie Gummer as Maggie Vahn
• Madeline Brewer as Samantha Nally
• Brian Cox as Paul Rivers
• Violet McGraw as Jenny Vahn
• Simon Quarterman as Alan Ross
• Mark Pettograsso as Brian Cox's stunt double
• Eric Troy Miller as Connor Gibbons
• Manny Perez as Officer Pitt
• Lorrie Odom as Officer Rossi
• Lilah Shreeve as Barista
• Chelsea Debo as Cori
• Kayla Wesley as Young Jenny
• Ratnesh Dubey as Male Paramedic
• Trey Ellett as Dad
• Anna Maria Vargas as Teenage Girl

In October 2018, it was announced Rupert Friend would star in the film, with William Brent Bell directing from a screenplay by Nick Amadeus and Josh Braun. Bell, Jordan Yale Levine, Jordan Beckerman, Russ Posternak, Jesse Korman, Clay Pecorin and Russell Geyser, were announced as producers under their Yale Productions and RainMaker Films banners, respectively.[3] In November 2018, Mamie Gummer, Madeline Brewer, Brian Cox and Violet McGraw joined the cast of the film.[4]

In early 2020, the film was in final stages of post-production.[5]

In March 2021, Open Road Films and Briarcliff Entertainment acquired distribution rights to the film, and set it for an April 23, 2021, release.[6] It was then pushed back to April 30, 2021.[7]

• Separation at IMDb