Guy Nattiv's The Liberation made its world premiere at the 53rd Telluride Film Festival on September 4, drawing early awards attention for Carrie Coon. The mystery drama is set in the 1980s and follows Rita Cooper, an unhappy banker and Holocaust survivor who leaves her family to join the Harmonia commune.
The story was drawn from Nattiv's own family. The film is inspired by his grandmother's real-life experience joining an all-female cult. Rita's daughters, played by Bella Ramsey and Odessa Young, attempt to retrieve her, only to find themselves pulled toward the group. Lily James and Tracy Letts round out the cast. Nattiv co-wrote the screenplay with Noa Berman-Herzberg.
The film was produced by Sight Unseen Pictures, New Native Pictures, and Spooky Pictures, and shot in British Columbia between July and August 2025. Bleecker Street holds distribution rights. A limited U.S. theatrical release is planned for November 2026, with a wide release following on January 8, 2027.
Coon, who attended the Telluride opening brunch alongside co-star Tracy Letts, is among the early names surfacing in awards conversation this season. The role places her at the center of a cult drama that inverts the usual dynamic: the audience is asked to follow a woman into belief, not simply watch her escape it.