Mia McKenna-Bruce Lands Lead Role in Next Claire Denis’ Feature

Mia McKenna-Bruce, the breakout star of 2023 hit “How to Have Sex” and this year’s BAFTA Rising Star winner, has been cast in her next major project.

The Brit will star alongside Matt Dillon and Isaach de Bankolé in “The Cry of the Guard” (“Le Cri Des Gardes”), the next feature from French auteur director Claire Denis, taking over from Riley Keough in a lead role.

The film — being produced by French production outfits Curiosa Films and Vixens, with Senegal’s Astou Production and backing from Arte France Cinema — is adapted from Bernard-Marie Koltes’ play “Black Battles With Dogs,” and was written by Denis, Suzanne Lindon and Andrew Litvack.

The story spans one night near a vast construction site in Senegal, where a group of workers are confronted by a man whose brother was killed on the premises in a work-related incident. The film marks the next feature from Denis following her Berlin-winning feature “Both Sides Of The Blade” and Cannes-winning “Stars at Noon.”

Following the success of Molly Manning Walker’s “How to Have Sex,” which which won the Un Certain Regard competition in Cannes 2023 and was distributed by Mubi, McKenna-Bruce won best lead performance at the British Independent Film Awards and breakthrough performer of the year at the London Film Critics’ Circle Awards. She later joined the cast of queer drama film “Sister Wives” and landed the lead role in Netflix’s upcoming Agatha Christie series “The Seven Dial Mystery. Written by “Broadchurch” creator and former “Doctor Who” showrunner Chris Chibnall, the series also stars Helena Bonham Carter, Martin Freeman and Edward Bluemel and shot over the summer.