We’ve been waiting for this one. Octavia Butler’s 1993 dystopian novel Parable of the Sower is finally set for a film adaptation.
The eerily prescient story opens in 2024 and images a United States in which times are bad and getting worse. Climate change has made food and water scarce and expensive. Paying work is rare; company towns, sex work, and modern slavery are on the rise. The basic institutions of American life have eroded, and some have already broken.
After catastrophe strikes her neighborhood in 2026, main character Lauren and two of her friends set out for the north in search of a better situation and something to believe in.
Melina Matsoukas is set to direct the adaptation. Matsoukas, who directed the 2019 film Queen & Slim and several episodes of Issa Rae’s Insecure, is also known for her frequent collaborations with Beyoncé, including the video for “Formation.”
Learn more about the history and impact of Parable of the Sower with our Zero to Well-Read episode available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.
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