Nancy (film)

Nancy Freeman is a lonely woman who lives with her ailing mother Betty. An aspiring short story writer whose submissions are routinely rejected, Nancy finds an outlet for her creativity and need for attention and affection by running a blog in which she claims to be the grieving mother of a dead child. Off the blog, she meets Jeb, a divorced father grieving the loss of his daughter. Posing as being pregnant, having purchased a prosthetic belly, they get coffee together and connect. However, upon a chance encounter at a grocery store, Jeb discovers that Nancy isn't pregnant after all and becomes upset and never sees her again.

Soon thereafter, Betty passes away from a stroke. Nancy sees a news report about a couple - Leo and Ellen - who have never given up the search for their daughter, who was kidnapped as a child thirty years prior. Noting a vague resemblance between herself and an age progression of the couple's daughter, Nancy contacts them, claiming she may have been kidnapped and that she is their child.

Ellen, a professor of comparative literature, is quick to believe that Nancy is her daughter after seeing a photo of her while Leo, a psychologist, remains more skeptical. When Nancy visits, he quickly sets up a DNA test for the next day. Nancy's cat is parked in the sun room as Leo is allergic.

After dinner, Ellen sleeps alongside Nancy, in her daughter's bedroom - which hasn't been changed or slept in since her disappearance. She sleeps deeply. Next day, Leo shows Nancy his photo gallery in the attic and takes her photo. A man arrives to take a saliva sample and ask Nancy a few questions. He says the DNA test will take three days. The three then go to an art gallery together and share meals and get to know each other. Nancy confides in Ellen her dream of being a writer and shares her work with the couple. Ellen enjoys it and offers to send it to an editor she knows, much to Nancy's delight.

Ellen receives the results of the DNA test results and it is confirmed that Nancy isn't her daughter. On a walk with Nancy, she reveals she blames herself for her daughter's disappearance as Brooke ran off to see a kitten in a pet shop. Nancy comforts her. A gunshot is heard and a young man runs out desperate for a phone. Ellen dials 911 and Nancy applies compression to a boy's bleeding while they wait for the ambulance.

Later that night, Ellen hugs Nancy and whispers 'I love you', suggesting she is happy to have her in the couple's life despite the DNA results. But Nancy panics and leaves in the night while the couple sleep.

Christina Choe first announced Nancy in May 2015.^[3] It was inspired by films such as Barbara Loden's Wanda (1970), with Choe recalling:

That was the first time I had seen a female anti-hero character who was morally ambiguous, and making bad choices, and I remember it making me feel uncomfortable. I judged the character in a way that I don't think I would have done if it was a male anti-hero because I don't think I was used to seeing women on screen like that. That film was really pivotal for me and becomes more and more of a masterpiece each time I see it. It really inspired me to create a character like Nancy.^[3]

In February 2017, it was reported that Andrea Riseborough was set to star alongside J. Smith-Cameron, Ann Dowd, John Leguizamo, and Steve Buscemi in Nancy, marking Choe's feature directorial debut. Principal photography began in upstate New York with a crew consisting of all-female department heads.^[4] The producers were Amy Lo of Mental Pictures, Michelle Cameron, and Riseborough, who produced Nancy as the first film under her banner Mothersucker. Eon Productions' Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, Gamechanger Films' Mynette Louie, and XS Media's Rachel Xiaowen Song served as executive producers.^[5]

Nancy had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2018,^{[1][6][7][8][9][10][11]} and was then screened at several film festivals. In February 2018, Samuel Goldwyn Films acquired North American distribution rights to the film.^[5][12] It was released in select theaters in the United States on June 8, 2018.^[13][14]