British director Andrew Haigh, fresh off the acclaimed success of All of Us Strangers, has chosen to make a deeply personal passion project rather than pursue bigger, higher-profile opportunities. His new film, A Long Winter, is an adaptation of Colm Tóibín's 2006 short story that Haigh has been trying to bring to the screen for nearly two decades, describing it as containing "everything I wanted to make films about". The project marks a return to the intimate, character-driven storytelling that defined his earlier work, even as it moves into a more expansive physical setting.

Originally set in Spain, the story has been reworked and relocated to 1950s Colorado, following young Mike (Fred Hechinger) as he navigates a fraught relationship with his father, Lester (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), after his brother (Kit Connor) departs for the Korean War and his mother (Caitríona Balfe) vanishes, fleeing a life of isolation. Haigh, now 53, struggled for years to get the film made, partly due to insisting on shooting in Spain despite not speaking Spanish. The film will premiere at the Toronto and New York film festivals before a theatrical release via MUBI later this year.