Schrader Recasts Non Compos Mentis With Worthington, Hemsworth, Delevingne

Paul Schrader has reshuffled the lead triangle for his next feature. Deadline reported exclusively on Sept. 16 that Sam Worthington, Liam Hemsworth, and Cara Delevingne will headline the erotic thriller Non Compos Mentis, with production set to begin next month in New York. Oscar nominee Schrader wrote and will direct the film, which Latin-titles as “of unsound mind.”

Deadline’s synopsis centers on two privileged brothers confronting their mother’s decline into dementia — one a polished New York defense attorney, the other a hard-edged corporate heir — until the attorney’s consuming affair with a younger woman ignites a volatile love triangle of obsession, betrayal, and a fight for the family fortune. Worthington and Hemsworth play the brothers; Delevingne takes the younger-woman role. Additional casting is still being finalized.

World of Reel placed the announcement in the context of an earlier cast: Hemsworth remains, while Worthington replaces Caleb Landry Jones and Delevingne replaces Sarah Pidgeon, with Dianne Wiest “seemingly out.” The project is still seeking U.S. distribution even as Fortitude International oversees international sales. Deadline said Fortitude has already pre-sold Germany (Weltkino), Italy (Eagle Pictures), and the CIS territory (Capella).

David Gonzales, Schrader’s manager and producing partner on titles including Master Gardener, produces. Nadine de Barros of Fortitude executive produces; James M. Vernon of MFM (Hacksaw Ridge) joins Joseph and Jina Panebianco of Cardinal North Entertainment among a longer EP list that also includes Carissa Knol, Tiffany Boyle, Alex Sagalchik, Stef Dillon, Aimee Schoof, and Isen Robbins.

Schrader arrives at the shoot off Venice Competition drama The Basics of Philosophy, another entry in his recent “man in a room” cycle alongside First Reformed, The Card Counter, and Master Gardener. World of Reel noted that after Non Compos Mentis wraps, Schrader plans to start his “drug movie,” The Doors of Perception, in January — an unusually stacked production calendar even by his standards. Gonzales and Schrader most recently delivered Cannes 2024’s Oh, Canada with Richard Gere, Uma Thurman, and Jacob Elordi.

For studio and indie-finance desks, the package reads as a classic Schrader mid-budget adult thriller: name-cast leads, New York locations, foreign pre-sales in place, and a domestic buyer still to be named. Worthington’s Avatar profile, Hemsworth’s franchise familiarity, and Delevingne’s post-Club Kid festival heat give sales agents clear marketing hooks without requiring tentpole scale. The dementia-and-inheritance plot also keeps the film inside Schrader’s long preoccupation with guilt, control, and spiritual corrosion — themes that have defined his late-career renaissance more than any single studio banner.

Representation notes from Deadline underscore the package’s talent-side readiness: Hemsworth is with Range Media Partners; Worthington with WME and Anonymous Content; Delevingne with UTA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners. Those relationships matter as Fortitude continues foreign sales and a domestic home remains open. Combined with Schrader’s Venice presence this month and a January follow-up already penciled, Non Compos Mentis looks less like a speculative attachment and more like a production that buyers can calendar against — erotic thriller positioning, New York shoot logistics, and pre-sold European territories included.

Whether a U.S. distributor steps in before cameras roll or waits for footage will shape the release path. For now, the Sept. 16 casting reset confirms the movie is moving from development chatter into a concrete October New York start, with international territory sales already validating commercial interest in Schrader’s latest erotic thriller.