[Darla Contois, Alexander Skarsgård, Nathalie Alvarez Mesen (Credits: Patrick Shannon, Ernesto Ruscio, Christopher Barr)]
Alexander Skarsgård Boards Gothic Horror ‘The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands’ by ‘Clara Sola’ Director Nathalie Álvarez Mesén (EXCLUSIVE)
Annika Pham, Variety (x) 7 December 2025.
Darla Contois and Pernilla August co-star in the international feature lead-produced by Sweden’s Hobab, co-producer of the Oscar-nominated 'The Apprentice'
Swedish-born Hollywood star Alexander Skarsgård who hasn’t played in a Scandinavian feature in more than a decade is toplining the gothic horror pic “The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands,” the English-language debut of Swedish-Costa-Rican writer-director Nathalie Álvarez Mesén, to be delivered in May 2026.
Currently in production, “The Wolf…” is Mesén’s sophomore feature after the multi-awarded “Clara Sola” which debuted at the 2021 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and bowed in the U.S. via Oscilloscope.
Co-penned by Mesén with acclaimed Icelandic novelist, poet and screenwriter Sjón, credited for Skarsgård’s vehicle “The Northman” and the Cannes Un Certain Regard “Lamb,” “The Wolf…” deepens Mesén’s “signature blend of intimate character work and magic realism, expanding it into a darker, more haunting period world,” said an official statement.
In a challenging new role for Skarsgård, currently making a splash on screens in Harry Lighton’s “Pillion,” the Golden Globe winning actor plays a British widower in the 1880s Pacific Northwest, who hires a Native American governess, educated in a Christian mission school, to teach his two daughters. “While preparing the eldest for an arranged marriage, a force within her begins to awaken, threatening everything she has been taught,” runs the logline.
Indigenous Canadian actress Darla Contois, winner of a Canadian Screen Award for the drama series “Little Bird,” has landed the role of the governess, while the two daughters are played by British actress Bronte Carmichael (“Star Wars: Andor,” “Christopher Robin”) and the young Australian Lily La Torre (“Run Rabbit Run”). Rounded out the cast are Native American actor Forrest Goodluck (“The Revenant,” “How to Blow Up a Pipeline”) and Swedish star actress Pernilla August (“Star Wars”, “The Best Intentions”).
“I feel incredibly lucky to work with a cast who dive into their roles with such generosity, playfulness, and openness. Collaborating with such a talented group of people from all around the world has been a privilege,” said Mesén. “Darla embodies Isabel with visceral emotional depth, and Alexander portrays the father with a truth and volatility that ground the story. I can’t wait for the film to reach audiences!”
Speaking earlier to Variety about the long-gestated project and digging deeper into its core, the 37-year-old director said the story discusses “how to break free from patriarchal structures and if you can decolonize your own body, if not for yourself, for the sake of future generations.”
“As someone who’s worked with myth and folk stories in novels, songs and screenplays, I was immediately fascinated by Nathalie’s command of bringing to the screen something as difficult as the shifting borders between the inner and outer reality of her film’s protagonist” offered Sjón, who added “some dark Northern lyricism to Nathalie’s warm Latin American poetry.”
Completing the stellar creative team are some of Europe’s biggest heads of department: French cinematographer Hélène Louvart (“La Chimera,” “Pina”), Belgian editor and regular Dardenne brothers collaborator Marie-Hélène Dozo (“Young Ahmed,” “Six Days in Spring”), Swedish production designer Lina Nordqvist (“Holy Spider,” “Borg Vs McEnroe”) and Icelandic costume designer Margrét Einarsdóttir (“Lamb,” “King & Conqueror”).
“The Wolf…” marks a major milestone for producer Nima Yousefi, CEO of Sweden’s prestige boutique outfit Hobab, credited for the Venice Horizons winner “Paradise Burning” and co-producer of the 2025 Oscar nominated “The Apprentice”. The seasoned executive, who’s been shepherding Mesén for a decade, said her “distinctive voice” displayed in “Clara Sola,” billed by Variety reviewer Jessica Kiang as a ‘spellbinding debut,” is why he was able to assemble such a prestigious creative team and complex multi-territory financing.
Indeed, on “The Wolf,” international partners on board include Resolve Media in the U.S., European co-producers Quiddity Films in the U.K., Need Productions in Belgium and Still Vivid in Iceland. The mix of soft and private-sector finance was raised via Film i Väst, SVT, VOO, OBE & Be tv, Proximus, Shelter Prod, Tint, Finite Films, Northern Ireland Screen, the British Film Institute’s UK Global Screen Fund, Eurimages, Creative Europe, the Swedish Film Institute, the Film and Audiovisual Center of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, Screen Brussels, Taxshelter.be & ING, the Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal government, the Icelandic Film Centre, the Icelandic Tax Credit, and Nordisk Film & TV Fond.
The non-disclosed-substantial budget allowed him to give Mesén the means to her filmic ambition. Location scouting before development spanned 15 countries before Belfast in Northern Ireland was picked for the bulk of principal photography. “Nature in Belfast is actually quite similar to Pacific Northwest with tempered rainforest,” Yousefi told Variety.
One of the main challenges, he said, was building the British widower’s house – both the exteriors and interiors on location. “That has given the film a true authenticity where you go in and out of the house seamlessly,” added the producer who praised the collaborative work of Mesén with the HOD from an early stage.
“What was key for us, was to protect Nathalie’s vision and give her full creative freedom. This is what we can achieve within the European funding model,” said the producer, as the team prepares in Sweden for the last two-day-shoot in the Göteborg area and post-production work including VFX.
The Swedish release will be handled by leading arthouse banner TriArt, while international distribution will soon be unveiled, said Yousefi.
[Alexander Skarsgård, right, plays the character Jonas in acclaimed director Nathalie Álvarez Mesén's second feature film "The wolf will tear your immaculate hands". Photo: Adam Ihse/TT, Anders Wiklund/TT]
Some more info on Alex's role and 'The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands'
Alexander Skarsgård back in Swedish film
svt.se, 08 December 2025. (x) Thanks SwedishDelish
For the first time in almost 15 years, Alexander Skarsgård is making a Swedish film again – in English. In the enigmatic "The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands", he plays the family man Jonas.
– He is a broken man, says Skarsgård.
The Hollywood star can barely remember the last time he filmed a movie in Sweden.
– It must have been “Melancholia” with Lars von Trier, 2011. But I haven't worked with a Swedish director in about 15 years, says Alexander Skarsgård and pauses.
– Or am I lying now? No, that's true.
It's true that the majority of the film is shot in Belfast. And it's in English. But with a Swedish director, producer and several Swedish actors, it counts as Swedish, Alexander Skarsgård insists.
– It feels great to be back. This can't be compared to a big studio film in the US, it's more intimate.
Skarsgard: Vulnerable
"The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands" is described as a gothic drama set in the northwest United States in the late 19th century and follows Isabel (Darla Contois), a Native American woman.
– She was taken from her home as a child and raised in a Christian school where she was forcibly assimilated, says director Nathalie Álvarez Mesén.
Alexander Skarsgård plays Jonas, a British widower who hires Isabel as a governess for his two daughters after his wife passes away. The youngest daughter is convinced that her mother is still alive in the form of a wolf out in the woods – while Isabel comes into contact with her own roots and, as Nathalie Álvarez Mesén puts it, discovers a wound within herself.
– Who is the wolf is a bit up to the viewer, she says.
Skarsgård, who will soon also appear in pop star Charli XCX's mockumentary "The Moment" and in "Wicker", was attracted by the fact that the role of Jonas was unlike anything he had done before.
– There is something rudderless in Jonas, he is a broken man. There is something very vulnerable and beautiful in that, he says.
“Much darker”
Nathalie Álvarez Mesén's feature film debut "Clara Sola" (2021) won five Golden Bugs and was widely acclaimed. What now awaits is a more enigmatic story.
– It takes place in a different time, but it's still quite close to our world. A little more like magical realism but much darker, like they're trying to dig deeper into something, she says.
At the same time, she points out, the story has great relevance.
– The schools that forced children to forget their roots, it's a wound that is very much alive. There are people today who went to these schools as children, she says, adding:
– It felt important to tell it.
"Every film is like a time capsule. When you make a film, you are the person you were at the time and do the best with what you have," says director Nathalie Álvarez Mesén, currently working on the film "The wolf will tear your immaculate hands," which is partly filmed in Gothenburg. Photo: Adam Ihse/TT
[There is then a very short vid, which I can't import of Alex, speaking in Swedish, but you can see it via the link to the entire article above.]
From supporting roles in Swedish films to Hollywood films and awards. Hear Skarsgård tell more about his early career and the feelings surrounding his international breakthrough. Photo: Per Nilsson/SVT
Fact: "The wolf will tear your immaculate hands"
“The wolf will tear your immaculate hands” is the second feature film by director Nathalie Álvarez Mesén. She had her international breakthrough with “Clara Sola” (2021), which won five Guldbaggers and was Costa Rica’s Oscar entry.
The script was written by Álvarez Mesén himself together with the Icelandic poet and writer Sjón.
The cast includes Alexander Skarsgård, Darla Contois, Lily LaTorre, Bronte Carmichael, Forreste Goodluck and Pernilla August.
The film will be released in Swedish cinemas in the fall of 2026.
