Project Detail

High Life

Synopsis

A group of convicts is duped into joining a difficult space mission in the belief they will be freed if they are successful. But, the authorities have no intention of ever letting them return to earth. They want the inmates to procreate and raise a child in space as part of a larger experiment.
The film follows the character of Monte a few years after the mission’s launch as he raises his daughter, Willow, in complete isolation on the empty spacecraft as it heads towards its final destination, a black hole. He fathered Willow against his will after his sperm was used to inseminate another convict in space as part of the experiment. In the process of raising her, however, he comes to experience real love for the first time in his life.
Claire Denis's first English-language feature is "an adventure beyond the solar system set in a future that seems like the present".
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2018 - Gala Presentations - World premiere
Official Selection International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) 2019 - Deep Focus

Details

Year
2018
Type of project
Features
Running time
110 mins
Director
Claire Denis
Producer
Laurence Clerc, Oliver Dungey, Christoph Friedel, D.J. Gugenheim, Andrew Lauren, Klaudia Smeija, Claudia Steffen, Olivier Théry-Lapiney
Executive Producer
Julia Balaeskoul Nusseibeh, Isabel Davis
Editor
Guy Lecorne
Screenwriter
Claire Denis, Jean-Pol Fargeau, Geoff Cox, Nick Laird (consultant)
Director of Photography
Yorick Le Saux, Tomasz Naumick
Production Designer
François-Renaud Labarthe, Mela Melak, Jagna Dobesz
Composer
Original Music and Sound Design: Stuart Staples, Tindersticks
Principal cast
Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, André Benjamin, Mia Goth, Lars Eidinger
Film Image
© 2018 Alcatraz Films, Pandora Filmproduktion, The Apocalypse Films, Madants

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

UK, Germany, France, Poland coproduction

An Alcatraz Films (FR), Pandora Filmproduktion (DE), The Apocalypse Films Company (UK), BFI Film Fund (UK), Madants (PL), Andrew Lauren Productions (US) film in co-production with Arte France Cinéma (FR)

The Apocalypse Films Company

10 Heathcroft
Hampstead Way
London
NW11 7HH

Sales Company

Wild Bunch (World sales excluding US)

65 rue de Dunkerque
75009 Paris
FRANCE

Creative Artists Agency (CAA) (US sales)

2000 Avenue of the Stars
Los Angeles
CA 90067
USA

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

OH BOYS OH BOYS

Director: Antonio Donato

Year: 2026

In a coastal village obsessed with standing out, through flashy solos, fierce ping pong matches, and clumsy dates, a young saxophonist takes a different path. Official Selection Quinzaine des Cinéastes / Directors' Fortnight Cannes 2026 - World premiere

The Odyssey The Odyssey

Director: Christopher Nolan

Year: 2026

After the Trojan War, Odysseus faces a dangerous voyage back to Ithaca, meeting creatures like the Cyclops Polyphemus, Sirens, and Circe along the way.

A mixed race woman looks directly into the camera with her hands around her own neck, lying against orange velvet pillows. Choked

Director: Travis Alabanza

Year: 2026

Shakona doesn't always want to be treated so nicely, sometimes she wants to feel like the world does: chaotic. Yet she can't get her devoted and loving boyfriend Eddie to meet her needs, so she goes to where all good decisions are made, a hookup app. Just as it seems like Shakona is finally letting go, she has the chance to take power into her own hands...