Netflix just keeps on accumulating content and now the streaming service has acquired the rights to turn the short story entitled Backwards by mother-son duo Julianna Baggott and Finneas Scott into a film. Reported exclusively by Deadline, the film will be directed by Shawn Levy, and he will produce the project with Dan Cohen for 21 Laps. Other producers involved are Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell for Safehouse. Baggott will also serve as an executive producer with Brendan Deneen and Josh Stanton for Blackstone Publishing.
The story synopsis reads as follows, “A dying father chooses a method to extend his life that involves reverse aging in a de-aging facility. Appointed to be his caretaker is his estranged daughter. As the years peel off, they are able to get to the core of where they went wrong as the father relives the memory of different portions of his life, experiences which made him an unlikeable person.”
This sounds like a film that would be right up Netflix’s alley as the streamer in the last handful of years has really made an effort to get high profile “Oscar Bait” films as exclusives for their platform. It was also reported by Deadline that Netflix won a hotly contested 6-way bidding war for this film, so it makes it feel like the company has a lot of confidence in the potential of this project. Given the weight of this story, Netflix is probably looking at this film the same way they did Marriage Story or The Lost Daughter. With compelling concepts of cheating death, de-aging, emotional reflection, and the trauma that comes from a fractured family relationship, Backwards looks to be another Oscar contender for the streamer.
Netflix’s presence at the Oscars has steadily risen over the years and, as smaller films like Backwards gravitate more towards streaming services, that upward trend will only continue. It will be interesting to see what Levy will bring to a project like this as he is better known for genre films like The Pink Panther, the Night at the Museum trilogy, Cheaper by the Dozen, last year’s hit comedy Free Guy, and TV shows like Stranger Things. Levy’s next feature The Adam Project is also a Netflix film and 21 Laps production, and it will be premiering on the streaming service next month.
Backwards seems a ways off as Netflix just acquired the rights to make the film, and it does not have a release window or date at this time, but for all the latest news on this de-aging drama, stick with Collider.