After crafting short films for a decade, director Beth de Araujo made her feature debut with the one-take thriller Soft & Quiet in 2022. Now SFGate reports that she has wrapped production on her second feature, Josephine, which shot under the radar in San Francisco from April through June. They were also able to unearth the information that Josephine, which stars Channing Tatum (21 Jump Street) and Gemma Chan (Eternals) was inspired by a childhood experience of de Araujo’s that she recounted at a The Moth storytelling event in 2019.

According to SFGate, “When she was 8 years old, de Araujo and her father drove to a remote part of the park to play baseball. When her father turned off the car, they heard screams for help. Her father chased off the assailant, leaving de Araujo alone in the car. Eventually, she got scared, went looking for her father and came face to face with a sobbing woman. When she and her father got home, they didn’t discuss what had transpired. De Araujo recalled becoming hypervigilant in the ensuing months, then years, requiring friends to stand outside the bathroom, and being unable to sleep without her father in the house.“

Only one scene from Josephine is said to mirror this childhood memory, with the story going off in a different direction from there. Here’s the synopsis: After witnessing a brutal attack in Golden Gate Park, eight-year-old Josephine is plunged into a maelstrom of fear and paranoia. She acts out with increasing violence looking for any way to regain control of her own safety.

Tatum and Chan play Josephine’s parents, while the title character is played by newcomer Mason Reeves.

Josephine is a project de Araujo has been hoping to get into production for about a decade, with Chan having been attached to star in the film for several years. Since Soft & Quiet was much smaller, de Araujo was able to get that one off the ground first – and it’s good to hear that the positive response to that film finally enabled her to make Josephine.

Have you seen Soft & Quiet, and does Josephine sound interesting to you? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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