Jennifer Kent’s THE NIGHTINGALE Acquired by IFC Films for US Distribution

Ever since her first feature film, The Babadook, shook many viewers to their cores in 2014, many film fans have been eagerly awaiting Jennifer Kent's second feature, and that wait is getting ever closer to being over. Ahead of its North American premiere in the Spotlight section of the forthcoming Sundance Film Festival, Kent's The Nightingale has been acquired by IFC Films.

Variety exclusively reported that IFC Films acquired The Nightingale for distribution in the United States. A release date has not yet been revealed, but Variety reports that a "robust rollout" is expected this summer. Kent is no stranger to IFC, as the distributor previously released The Babadook in US cinemas.

Here's what Kent told Variety about what viewers can expect from her latest film, which stars Aisling Franciosi, Sam Claflin, and Baykali Ganambarr:

“The film is a study on violence and what a violent mind and therefore a violent society can do to damage the human spirit. It’s about how we can evolve through and beyond that violence. For me ‘The Nightingale’ is about love—not in a schmaltzy way—but its power to allow us to evolve as human beings.”

Daily Dead will be live at Sundance this month, and we'll be sure to keep readers updated on The Nightingale as more news is reported. In the meantime, you can read the film's festival synopsis below.

Synopsis (via Sundance): "One night in 1820s Tasmania, Clare, a young Irish convict, loses everything she holds dear after her family is horrifically attacked. She’s immediately driven to track down and seek revenge against the British officer who oversaw the horror, so she enlists the service of an Aboriginal tracker named Billy. Marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past, Billy reluctantly agrees to take her through the interior of Tasmania. On this brutal quest for blood, Clare gets much more than she bargained for."

[Photo credit: Above photo courtesy of the Sundance Institute.]