He will direct, co-write and star in The Semplica Girls

Richard Ayoade is to direct, co-write and star in a film about wealthy people importing girls from impoverished countries to serve as decorative figurines.

The Semplica Girls is based on a fictional story co-writer George Saunders penned for the New Yorker magazine in 2012, set in the near future.

Ayoade will star with his wife Lydia Fox, the sister of fellow actor Laurence who had small roles in Ayoade’s previous films Submarine and The Double.

They also play a married couple in the film. According to the synopsis, Ayoade’s Lloyd Turner is facing up to his 40th birthday with the prospect of a new decade mouldering in debt and mediocrity.

But then he and his wife Sarah make the financially crippling decision to invest in what has become the elite’s new favourite status symbol: a set of ‘Semplica Girls’ to decorate their front lawn.  Yet when Lloyd’s youngest daughter, Ida, discovers what’s happening, she threatens to plunge her family into deeper chaos.

Hollywood website Deadline, which first reported the news, also said producers were in ‘early talks with A-list U.S. and UK talent including Ben Stiller, Jesse Eisenberg and Sally Hawkins’ – but none are signed on yet.

Film4 is part-funding the project, which is being made by House Productions and Alcove Entertainment.

Published: 13 Feb 2023