The idea for Magpie came from an experience Daisy Ridley had on a film set. She was playing the mother of a young child, and became intrigued by the idea of reality versus fantasy, when the young actor would call her ‘mummy’, outside of filming. She shared her initial idea with her writer-actor husband, Tom Bateman, who developed the idea, and crafted a plot exploring the deeper themes of sacrifice, obsession, betrayal and revenge, against the backdrop of a crumbling marriage.
“Magpie is a taut modern noir with a killer twist,” says director Sam Yates. “Like all noirs, we are exploring the darkness of the human heart, morally ambiguous behaviour, and alienation. As soon as I read Tom Bateman’s script, I connected with the story on a number of personal levels.”
Daisy took the project to producer Kate Solomon, who was immediately drawn to the story and worked with them on the script. “I think it’s very unusual to have films where the characters can be so complex and ambiguous. You have one view of Anette, and then it changes and you’re not quite sure why. It also felt very modern because a lot of it is based around the digital world, and the relationships are played out within that world.”
Daisy Ridley continues to make her mark on Hollywood as one of the most dynamic English actresses of our time. She is best known for her breakthrough role as Rey in the 2015 film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens directed by J.J. Abrams. She reprised her role as Rey in Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi directed by Rian Johnson in 2017 and in the final film of the Skywalker Saga Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker directed by J.J. Abrams in 2019.

Director Sam Yates came on board soon after, marking his feature film directorial debut. “I immediately connected with the script, especially with the theme of someone who is not saying what they need to say, and is repressed or restricted in expressing what’s inside her, which here is about standing up to a partner who has very certainly devalued her over time, with his behaviour. I really responded to that as a premise. Anette finds expression in the film in a really interesting way, in a way that you don’t expect because she doesn’t say much at all. But nevertheless, she finds this cunning, inner strength to change her situation, which I thought was really beautifully done. And it’s unusual as well, I think, to see a modern noir put together in this way, with a dynamic female protagonist and lots of subversions of the genre, which I found really interesting.”
He continues, “there is a sense of moral ambiguity and ambivalence. We watch these characters all behaving in pretty interesting ways, and there’s no clear hero so you are not quite sure where to place your loyalties. I also wanted to question the undeclared violence that goes on within marriages. The sort of violence by stealth, which I felt was in the fibres of their relationship, and the desire to take revenge when someone wrongs you, or diminishes you and how you can express that.”
From Page To Screen
“Sam had a great emotional response to the script” says Tom. “He questioned how far we can push the secret and the conceit of the piece and reveal it to an audience. He brought huge ambition to the project, referring to Hitchcock and Paul Thomas Anderson as inspirations.”
Adds Daisy, “He’s both empathetic and sympathetic. He had a very unique sense of what the film was to be. It has been very interesting having his gaze and he is amazingly collaborative, amazing with performances. Right fit, right place, right time.”
At first, we see Anette seemingly troubled and dissatisfied with being a stay-at-home mother, Alicia being publicly vilified for a personal sex tape, circulating on social media and Ben behaving as a calm, dutiful and sacrificial father, chaperoning his daughter on a film set every day. Then things start to shift and perspectives on the characters change, as Ben becomes shamelessly obsessed with Alicia at the expense of his daughter’s safety, and sympathy grows towards Anette’s frustrating situation at home. She becomes increasingly suspicious of Ben’s behaviour towards Alicia.
Says Tom, “Anette becomes fixated with Alicia’s image through Ben’s lens. She is obsessed with the woman who is almost the opposite of her. She can travel and is free. She is independent and powerful and admired in the way that stars are.”
Consequently, cracks begin to widen in Anette and Ben’s relationship. Matilda says of Anette’s character, “When you deal with someone who is constantly lying and manipulating the situation in a very subtle way, it’s really hard to trust the other person. And you start becoming doubtful about yourself and think you are crazy. I think that is what Anette is going through.”
Says Daisy of the disintegrating relationship between Anette and Ben, “It’s like paper cut after paper cut and before you know it, you’re covered in cuts. How much can one person receive before there’s nothing left? Anette has lost her shine because of Ben.”
Anette is also struggling with loss. She gave up an exciting career in publishing to be a mother.
Says Tom, “And she is now possibly losing her husband, losing her child, everything that she’s sacrificed in her life in order to hold together this family unit and to be a good mother and wife. This is a love letter to mothers. I’ve seen mothers sacrifice so much, and I wanted to really shine a light on that.”
The role of Anette offered an exciting challenge for Daisy. A seemingly unstable stay-at-home mother with an errant husband, sacrificing everything to raise her children, who gains an inner power to break out of her isolated cocoon and achieve enlightenment, presented her with rich possibilities.
The character of Alicia also plays with the audience’s mind. Says Daisy, “You start by thinking she is a femme fatale because of what is presented of her character to the audience in the beginning.” It is revealed a tape of her lovemaking with her boyfriend has made its way online and as a well known actress she hits the headlines. “And then people make judgements based on this and jump to conclusions. But in fact, she is an innocent.”
And then there’s Ben himself. A writer who had success with his first novel and is writing his third novel (his second book was less successful), having moved his family to an isolated house in the country. He craves the attention he enjoyed with his first book, and is oblivious to Anette’s own needs as she deals with raising their children. So when the bright and shiny thing that is Alicia crosses Ben’s path, he finds the bait irresistible and “He becomes blinded by his own desires”, says Tom.
Shazad Latif was immediately drawn to play Ben. Tom’s script offered a multi-layered character to get his teeth into, describing him as “an egotistical zombie cruising only towards what he wants to do.”
Shazad anticipates audiences are going to be taken on an unexpected rollercoaster ride and will relate to the film depending on their own personal and emotional circumstances. “I think men and women will view this film very differently and many will side with and feel empathetic to Ben rather than Anette, whereas some will completely understand Anette’s point of view. “Men who are not awake or haven’t had any revelations in their life will feel Ben is trapped and they would do the same thing. Anette is holding him back. But I think the men who have had some kind of awakening or are doing some kind of self work, or trying to get rid of that toxic masculinity and patriarchy that’s within them, then they’ll understand and they’ll take sides with Anette.”
Says Daisy, “I think everyone will have a different response to the film, often quite visceral. And it will be really interesting to see people having a conversation about what it is that really resonates with them upon seeing it.”
Sam concludes “It’s a film about films, about watching and enjoying a kind of joyride. We are watching people make a film, watching people watch other people and watching people watch us. It’s about seeing how humans behave when they are pushed to the limit. Revenge is pretty sweet in the film and I hope people will get a real kick out of that.”

© SHINY THINGS FILMS LIMITED 2023
Director’s Statement
Sam Yates was named Screen International Star of Tomorrow and a rising star in The Observer. Yates has been described as “a major talent” in The Guardian and “a director of unusual flair” in The Observer for his work in theatre. Magpie marks Yates’ directorial debut. He has most recently returned to the London stage, directing Andrew Scott in Chekhov’s Vanya
We find Anette in a state of dullness, her sense of self, her agency and her confidence having been slowly diminished by a verbally controlling and disinterested partner. While I didn’t have Anette’s cunning to save me, I did eventually pull myself out of a damaging relationship, and learnt what it means to reclaim yourself after years of doubting yourself. Anette’s journey from fractured to whole is, I hope, one of universal resonance and will speak to anyone who’s survived a toxic relationship.
I was equally fascinated by Ben. Struggling creatively, and seemingly blaming this on Anette and his children, Ben, like the magpie, has his head turned by luminous objects. I use the word “objects” deliberately, because Ben’s fantasy that Alicia is the solution to his problems, the key to immortality, and the road to endless excitement, is a fantasy of his own creation. He looks outward rather than within for solutions to his malaise, boredom and discontentment. The fact that Alicia is an actor heightens this fantasy, an invitation into a world that appears glamorous, exotic and ceaselessly interesting. Ben has painted Anette as someone he finds undesirable; a mother, and nothing more. He can no longer see the brilliant, beautiful woman he was first attracted to. Such is the distorting power of his gaze.
While we are drawn into the sexually charged connection between Ben and Alicia we experience the ugly flip side, Anette’s struggle to bear yet another infidelity. However, this time she can’t sit back and do nothing.
How do we express our anger when we’ve been wronged? What happens when humans repress emotions for too long?
Anette begins subdued, unstable and in extremis, but throughout the film reclaims her sense of self, applying cunning, ingenuity and strength to take her ultimate, and oh so cold, revenge.
Cinematographer Laura Bellingham and I pursued the bold visuals of the genre, inspired by Hitchcock and Jonathan Demme (red herrings, unstable perspectives, shadow and light, mirrors and reflection, intense close ups, subjective POV), to keep audiences on the edge of their seats as the story hurtles towards its fatal conclusion. A robust and present score by Isobel Waller-Bridge serves to ratchet tension and deliver a distinctive and universally appealing noir.”
© SHINY THINGS FILMS LIMITED 2023
