Stillwater: release date, cast, plot and trailer for Matt Damon thriller
Everything you need to know about the new crime film, including whether it's based on a true story.
Matt Damon has teamed up with the director of the Oscar-winning drama Spotlight for a brand new crime film – which lands in the UK this summer.
Tom McCarthy's Stillwater sees the A-list actor star as a man who travels to Marseille in a bid to save his daughter from being wrongly incarcerated for murder, with several obstacles waiting for him in the French city.
Read on for everything you need to know about the film, including when it arrives in cinemas and whether it is based on a true story.
Stillwater release date
In the UK, the film will be released in cinemas on Friday 6th August 2021 – one week after it arrives in the US.
It had its international premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival in July, where it played out of competition and attracted mixed reviews from critics.
Stillwater cast
Hollywood A-lister Matt Damon leads the cast for the film, which also stars Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine, Scream Queens), and French star Camille Cottin (Allied, Killing Eve).
The main cast is rounded out by Deanna Dunagan (The Visit) and child actor Lilou Siauvaud, while Spotlight director Tom McCarthy is behind the camera.
Stillwater plot: is it based on a true story?
The film tells the story of Bill Baker, an oil worker in the titular city of Stillwater, Oklahoma who discovers that his daughter has been falsely accused of killing her friend while studying abroad in Marseille.
After visiting her in prison he decides to make a permanent move to France, determined to do everything in his power to clear his name, helped along the way by a local French woman and her young daughter.
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Although the film is not explicitly based on a true story, it does bear some similarities to the real-life case of American student Amanda Knox – who spent four years in prison in Italy for the murder of her roommate before she was later cleared of any wrongdoing.
Speaking during an appearance on NBC's Today, Matt Damon said, "This is a story based kind of loosely on that [the Amanda Knox case], but [McCarthy] worked with some other writers and made up a story around it."
And McCarthy played down the similarities in an interview with The Press-Enterprise, explaining, "I was riveted by that case and there was inspiration there, but if you put too much emphasis on that it’s not accurate. This is obviously a very different scenario."
- For the latest news and expert tips on getting the best deals this year, take a look at our Black Friday 2021 and Cyber Monday 2021 guides.
Stillwater trailer
You can get an early taste for the film by watching the trailer below, which was released a few months before the film's debut.
Stillwater will arrive in UK cinemas on Friday 6th August 2021. If you need something to watch tonight, have a look at our TV Guide or check out our Movies hub for all the latest news.
Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
