| The Thing with Feathers | |
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| Directed by | Dylan Southern |
| Screenplay by | Dylan Southern |
| Based on | Grief Is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Ben Fordesman |
| Edited by | George Cragg |
| Music by | Zebedee C. Budworth |
Production companies |
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Release date |
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Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6 million [1] |
The Thing with Feathers is a 2025 British drama film starring Benedict Cumberbatch. It is written and directed by Dylan Southern and adapted from the book Grief Is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter.
A father and two sons struggle to cope with the sudden loss of their wife and mother. [2] In addition to trying to move on with their lives, the family also has to face grief, which is depicted as a large crow.
The project is from Film4, Lobo Films and Cumberbatch’s SunnyMarch. Producers on the project are Andrea Cornwell, Adam Ackland and Leah Clarke. It is an adaptation by Dylan Southern of the novel Grief Is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter. [3] The film received British Film Institute (BFI) Filmmaking Fund production support in 2024. [4]
Principal photography was underway in early 2024. [5] [6]
It premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on 25 January 2025. [7] [8] It was also shown as European premiere at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival in 18 February 2025. [9]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 52% of 23 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.0/10. Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 51 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.