The Oscar-nominated actress is plunged into the political turmoil of 1981 Warsaw in Winter of the Crow, as her acclaimed stage and screen career continues with a string of major roles.
Lesley Manville battles spies, political violence and the freezing streets of Cold War Warsaw in her new thriller Winter of the Crow.
The actress, 70, stars as British psychiatry professor Joan Andrews in director Kasia Adamik’s upcoming drama, which Cohen Media Group will release in US cinemas on October 9.
Inspired by Nobel Prize-winning author Olga Tokarczuk’s short story Professor Andrews Goes to Warsaw, the film follows Joan after she arrives in Poland as a guest lecturer in December 1981, only to become trapped when martial law is imposed and the country effectively shuts down overnight.
Joan is carrying a Polaroid camera when she witnesses the secret police committing a brutal murder.
With Poland sealed off and her own life in danger, she goes into hiding and becomes a fugitive while attempting to navigate a Warsaw transformed by repression and violence.
The cast also includes Tom Burke, who starred in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and The Souvenir, Andrzej Konopka, Sascha Ley and Zofia Wichłacz.
Kasia was quoted by Variety saying: “Winter of the Crow is deeply personal to me, and I wanted to capture the fear and uncertainty of a moment when everyday life could change in an instant. Lesley Manville brings such intelligence, strength and humanity to Joan, and I’m thrilled that audiences will have the opportunity to experience her extraordinary performance – and this story – on the big screen.”
The movie marks another major role for Lesley during a particularly busy period in her five-decade stage and screen career.
She won the 2026 Tony Award for best performance by an actress in a leading role in a play for portraying Jocasta opposite Mark Strong in Robert Icke’s production of Oedipus on Broadway.
The production had previously earned Lesley her second Olivier Award when it was staged in London.
Lesley subsequently appeared at London’s National Theatre in Les Liaisons Dangereuses alongside Monica Barbaro and Aidan Turner, with Marianne Elliott directing Christopher Hampton’s adaptation.
She is also set to return to the West End in 2027 opposite Anna Maxwell Martin in a revival of Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County at the Noël Coward Theatre.
Lesley will play Violet Weston, with Anna appearing as her daughter Barbara Fordham and Jeremy Herrin directing.
Her best-known screen performances include Cyril Woodcock in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread, which earned her an Academy Award nomination, and Princess Margaret in the final two seasons of Netflix royal drama The Crown, for which she received an Emmy nomination.
Lesley has also starred in Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, Magpie Murders, Moonflower Murders, Sherwood, Back to Black and Mike Leigh’s Another Year.
Winter of the Crow is directed by Kasia from a screenplay by Sandra Buchta, Kasia and Lucinda Coxon, with Olga Chajdas, Stanisław Dziedzic, Katarzyna Ozga, Nicolas Steil and Samantha Taylor producing.
Robert Aaronson, executive vice president of Cohen Media Group, said: “Anchored by a remarkable performance from Lesley Manville, Kasia Adamik has created a film that is both a gripping thriller and a deeply human story.”
He added: “The screenplay truly captures the uncertainty and tension of this pivotal moment in history. We’re very proud to bring it to theaters this October.”
Lesley Manville becomes hunted fugitive in new Cold War thriller
