Alex Garland, the British writer/director behindEx Machinaand 2018’sAnnihilation,has begun the casting process on his next project. Garland had spoken last year about the script toEmpiremagazine, calling it “a low-budget horror movie, set in the UK,” but wasn’t sure about its chances for being made.

Now, he’s officiallysigned on with A24 Filmsin Los Angeles, the production company behindUncut GemsandOn the Rocks, to make the movie. Now entitledMen,the film is described by sources like Deadline as being about “a young woman who takes a vacation into the English countryside after the death of her ex-husband.” Presumably, that means that either something’s going to go terribly wrong or English countryside vacations are a lot worse than one would imagine.

RELATED:Anne Hathaway Stars In ‘Locked Down’ The First Quarantine Heist Film

That young woman is planned to be played by Jessie Buckley (I’m Thinking of Ending Things), with Rory Kinnear (No Time to Die) in an unspecified role. Garland is reportedly in the process of finding a co-star for Buckley, with no known lead candidates at the time of writing.

Garland initially broke into public view with his 1996 novelThe Beach, about a community of backpackers in an idyllic location, which became a word-of-mouth bestseller. He later moved into film with the screenplays for28 Days Later, Sunshine, Never Let Me Go, Dredd,andan unproduced film adaptation ofHalo.

Garland’s debut as a dual-classed writer/director was 2014’saward-winning thrillerEx Machina, starring Domhnall Gleeson and Alicia Vikander, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. His most recent project wasDevs, a 2020 eight-episode miniseries on FX that starred Sonoya Mizuno(Crazy Rich Asians)as a software engineer looking into the mysterious death of her boyfriend. While Garland has made his share of thrillers,Menrepresents his return to outright horror, as well as his directorial debut in the genre.

Jessie Buckley is an Irish actress who was primarily known for her work on BBC productions until 2017, when she played the lead in the indie thrillerBeast. More recently, besides her work in the mind-bending Charlie Kaufman filmI’m Thinking of Ending Thingson Netflix, she appeared in HBO’sChernobylandseason four of FX’sFargo.

MORE:AT&T’s John Stephens Speaks Out On Releasing WB’s 2021 Films On VOD