There are many reasons to be excited about a new movie. One of these reasons is that it is a mashup of two of your favorite genres or even a combination you may never have thought of before. Enter Saint Clare. The plot is a combination of two winning formulas, Dexter and Riverdale. It promises to be great fun.

But with the book rights having been sold in 2019 and the book itself not arriving until 2020, production has been mired in changes. Will the final product be able to please audiences? Here’s everything we know.

Saint Clare: The Plot

     Vertical Entertainment

Clare Bleeker is a sixteen-year-old orphan living with her grandparents in the quaint town of Pickman Flats, Washington. It is a small town, popular with tourists for its wine tastings. It is also a town where everyone seems to know everyone. From the outside, Pickman Flats is the ideal place to live and grow up.

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Underneath that veneer, the town has a dark side. Its underbelly is bleak and Clare sees it for what it is. Or for what she thinks it to be because Clare sees the sinister elements of her town. The other problem is that Clare has a dark side of her own. She calls it the “Other Clare.” This side of her is angry and murderous. It takes over and lashes out whenever she feels a bit too upset, or she needs to protect the ones she loves from evil or those she sees as evil.

One of the best things about the story is that Clare seems to be an average girl navigating high school. She has a few friends, hates any kind of animal cruelty, and has personal heroes she admires. Of course, those heroes include Jeffrey Dahmer, but it’s hard to judge children. Also, although Clare seems to indicate that Other Clare is taking over when she gets upset, the fact is that she is fully aware of what she is doing and shows that she has a sense of right and wrong.

When it comes to how we view Clare, the book is told from a first-person perspective. Clare shares her thoughts and emotions while talking directly to the audience. This can sometimes feel overwhelming if done improperly. However, shows like Dexter and Wednesday have done an exemplary job of giving more insight into their deranged characters by showing us exactly what they are thinking instead of only hinting at their darkness.

While the story unfolds in Clare’s mind, we may also have a sense of the unreliable narrator. When the perspective is so clear from the person telling the story, it may cloud how we see others. This often leads to late-stage revelations where the narrator realizes things too late based solely on their single-minded view of the world.

Saint Clare: The Cast & Crew

     Screen Media

The movie is based on the book Clare at Sixteen by Don Roff, which was published in 2021. The book already has one sequel, Clare at Seventeen, and Roff is prepared to write at least four more books. Should the film succeed, it may lead to a variety of sequels.

As of 2019, the film rights had been already been purchased prior to the novel’s publishing date. It was originally slated to star Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale) who would also executive produce. The film would have been Directed by Mark Pavia who directed The Night Flier, originally written by Stephen King.

However, in the intervening time, production has changed. Now, Roff will be writing the script with Guinevere Turner and Mitzi Pierone. Pierone, the director of Braid (2019) is also taking the place of Mark Pavia in the director’s chair.

Madelaine Petsch is no longer attached to the project, as Bella Thorne (Game of Love) has taken over the title role of Clare Bleeker. The film will now also star Ryan Phillippe (The Locksmith) as Timmons and Rebecca De Mornay (Lucifer) in an as-yet-unnamed role.

Release Date

Saint Clare will be released in theaters in 2023.

Everything Else We Know

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One thing that made a show like Dexter stand out is its novel way of approaching the mind of a serial killer. It lent gravitas and a bit of humor to the point of view and showed the vulnerabilities of a person who knows they have darkness in them and are still trying to have a normal life.

This movie could take that even further by showing us a teenager who is still deciding who she is in general while navigating both high school and her own dark urges. This could introduce a level of instability we have not seen before.

The character can have the fun darkness of a Wednesday. If her darkest side actually presents itself in its basest forms, this film could hit a very specific cultural sweet spot. People seem to love when murderous sociopaths give their opinions and there are plenty of movies and shows that prove this. Throw in a mystery that needs to be solved, and the movie is well on its way.

Perhaps the other piece we would like to see is a great supporting cast. Sometimes, these storylines become boring when the best character is the only one to root for. However, if they are surrounded by great actors playing great parts, it may boost the film’s profile and round out the story in a way that makes the viewers want more.