Ten Thousand Saints

Ten Thousand Saints is a 2015 American drama film written and directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini.^[1] It is based on the novel of the same name by Eleanor Henderson. The film stars Asa Butterfield as Jude Keffy-Horn, the protagonist of the story.^[2] The film premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2015.^[3]

Plot

Jude Keffy-Horn (Asa Butterfield) is a teenage boy who lives in Vermont with his adoptive mother, Harriet (Julianne Nicholson), and sister, Prudence (Nadia Alexander). Mixed up in the complicated world of drugs and alcohol, his best friend, Teddy (Avan Jogia), dies of a drug overdose on the last day of 1987 after Teddy, Jude and their new friend, Eliza (Hailee Steinfeld) from Manhattan spend the night out partying, leaving Jude devastated. Jude is eventually sent to Manhattan to reconnect with his father, Les (Ethan Hawke), and discovers kinship with Teddy's half-brother, Johnny (Emile Hirsch). He soon starts hanging out with Johnny's group of straight-edge friends, that have strict no-drugs, no-sex, no-meat, and no-alcohol rules, keeping Jude out of trouble for the first time in years. When he finds out that Eliza, who is also the daughter of Les' girlfriend, Di (Emily Mortimer), is pregnant with the child of deceased Teddy after an encounter on the night Teddy died, he and Johnny, along with Les, become Eliza's rock as she struggles through pregnancy so early on in life, and the three become a family of sorts, in hopes to raise the child together. Meanwhile, Di struggles with her relationship with Les, and Harriet struggles with the prospect of her growing children. It is a coming-of-age story following three messed up teenagers and their equally messed up parents in 1987, the age of CBGBs, yuppies, and gentrification that culminated in the Tompkins Square Park riots.

Cast

• Asa Butterfield as Jude Keffy-Horn, a teenage boy who is trying to reconnect with his father in 1988 Manhattan after his best friend, Teddy, dies of a drug overdose and befriends a group of friends who are anti-drugs, anti-sex, anti-alcohol and center themselves around punk-style rock music.
• Avan Jogia as Teddy, Jude's friend who dies due to drug overdose. He is the father of Eliza's child
• Hailee Steinfeld as Eliza, a 16-year old girl who is pregnant with Teddy's child and Jude's love interest. Her mother, Di, is dating Jude's father, Les
• Ethan Hawke as Les, Jude's father and a drug dealer, who is trying to reconnect with his son and cope with his problems
• Emile Hirsch as Johnny, Teddy's straight edge half-brother and tattoo artist who finds kinship with Jude after he moves to Manhattan
• Julianne Nicholson as Harriet, Jude's adoptive mother from Vermont
• Emily Mortimer as Di, a ballet dancer, Eliza's mother, Les' girlfriend
• Jeff O'Donnell as Tory Ventura, football jock, drug dealer and bully to Jude
• Nadia Alexander as Prudence, Jude's sister from Vermont
• Claudio Encarnacion Montero as Larry, Jude's neighbor

Production

Hailee Steinfeld was announced to be in talks for the role of Eliza in October 2013, and was cast in December of that year. Asa Butterfield and Ethan Hawke were cast earlier before Steinfeld. Emile Hirsch, Julianne Nicholson, Emily Mortimer and Nadia Alexander were cast in early 2014. Avan Jogia was cast as Teddy in early February 2014. Filming started in New York City on January 27, 2014 and ended on March 3, 2014.

They started shooting additional scenes that included a pregnant Eliza on May 1, 2014 until mid May of that same year ^[4]

References

External links

• Ten Thousand Saints at the Internet Movie Database