Night in the Woods (2026 film)

Night in the Woods is a 2026 animated mystery film directed by Edgar Wright. The film was written by Wright and Joe Cornish, and produced by Dan Lin and Nira Park. It stars Mae, voiced by Hailee Steinfeld, an anthropomorphic cat who had recently dropped out of college for being a rebellious student. She then comes back her hometown to find some unexpected changes. The film co-stars Fred Armisen, Jonathan Majors, Elliot Page, Bo Burnham, Nicole Kidman, Rachel Bloom, Donald Glover, Margaret Qualley, and Willem Dafoe It is based on 2017 video game of the same name by Alec Holowka and Scott Benson.

Development of the film began at Warner Bros. following the game's 5th anniversary. Wright was attached to the project early in development, with Park and Witherspoon heading as producers. The film premiered at the Annecy International Film Festival on April 5, 2026, and was widely released in North America on May 17, 2026.

It was met with universal critical and commercial acclaim, grossing $30 million worldwide against a budget of $6.1 million and receiving two nominations at the Saturn Awards. It was also received as one of the best video game to movie adaptions, according to Screen Rant. Benson also praised the movie for it's narrative storytelling.

Plot
Margaret "Mae" Borowski is a 20-year-old college dropout, who relocates back to her Rust Belt-inspired hometown of Possum Springs, which has been struck by the closure of the coal mines and the stagnating economy. She meets up with her old friends, including gloomy but intelligent Beatrice "Bea" Santello, hyperactive delinquent Greggory "Gregg" Lee, and Gregg's quiet, modest boyfriend Angus Delaney. Mae also learns that another one of her old friends, Casey Hartley, has mysteriously disappeared.

Mae spends several days exploring Possum Springs and spending time with her friends, but she also begins to have strange and vivid dreams. At the town's Halloween festival, Mae witnesses a teenager being kidnapped by a mysterious figure. The four friends begin working together to figure out what is going on, with Mae's mental health slowly deteriorating with every one of her dreams. After intensive searching, the four stumble across a strange group of cloaked figures in the woods, who chase after them; Mae ends up falling and lapses into a coma.

Mae eventually wakes up and returns to her friends, and she reveals that the reason she dropped out was due to her increasing dissociation from people and the world (it is implied that Mae suffers from some sort of depersonalization disorder), seeing everything as merely shapes. Mae's journal, in which she draws pictures for each major event in the game, was given to her by a doctor to write down her emotions after she bludgeoned a student with a softball bat six years ago as a result of a dissociative episode. Due to this incident, the townsfolk became wary of Mae and caused a financial and emotional strain in her family. As her dissociation worsened at college, Mae mustered up the strength to leave and return home, hoping that being back in Possum Springs would help her return to normal.

Still wounded, Mae decides to venture out into the woods alone to find the group who chased her and the others, only for Gregg, Bea, and Angus to refuse to let her go by herself. The group enter the old mines and meet the mysterious group, who are revealed to be a cult. The cult turns out to be behind the kidnappings of several residents, including Casey, taking those whom they deem useless to society and whom they say will "not be missed" into the mines to sacrifice them to a god-like chthonic entity called the Black Goat in hope that the Black Goat will revitalize the economy of Possum Springs. The cult's leader allows the group to leave, threatening them never to tell anyone about the cult – however while riding up the mine's elevator, a member of the group attacks Mae. The others manage to save her and the elevator falls, collapsing the mine and presumably trapping the cult underground.

Mae sits down with both Bea or Gregg and talk about the events of the previous night, and all the things that have happened in Possum Springs. The others join them shortly after, and Mae tells them that although they will all be forced to grow and adapt to life as it goes on for better and for worse, they can still enjoy their time together now. The game ends as the four decide to forget about their problems for the time being and have band practice.

Cast

 * Hailee Steinfeld as Margaret "Mae" Borowski- Mae Borowski is known to be energetic and agile, enjoying to climb things whenever possible. Her close friends and family (and the police) reference her habits of climbing electrical poles, tightrope walking on the power lines, and general running around and jumping. Mae Borowski has a troubled past, primarily with depression and anger issues. She was instructed, early in her youth, to "repress" these issues by Dr. Hank, something that Mae appears to have taken to heart.
 * McKenna Grace as Young Mae
 * Fred Armisen as Greggory "Gregg" Lee- Gregg is talkative, exuberant, and rebellious. He is a very punk-like character. But despite his loud and optimistic demeanor, Gregg has a fear that he may accidentally ruin his relationship with Angus. It's stated by Bea directly that he probably has bipolarity to some degree, and even Gregg himself has mentioned having "really up up days and really down down days". Gregg had also said that most of the time he can't tell what kind of day it's been until it's over. He is also known to be very excitable, frequently expressing said excitement by shouting or flapping his arms rapidly. However, he has also been seen to have poor impulse control.
 * Jonathan Majors as Angus Delaney- Compared to most characters, Angus is stoic, shy, and seems rather disconnected from others with the exception of Gregg, though he is deeply concerned about others' safety and well-being. Bea may remark that Angus is equally a responsible parental figure and boyfriend to Gregg, which she feels is what the latter needs. He is shown to have a good sense of humor when in good company, but can otherwise come off as subdued or joyless. He tends not to let his emotions show, but is rather prone to crying.
 * Elliot Page as Beatrice "Bea" Santello- Bea has a very gloomy and cold attitude, due to both having gone through numerous unfortunate events in less than two years time, and seeing the slow economic decay of Possum Springs first-hand. She has no patience for jokes or facetiousness and reacts to these with sarcasm or anger depending on her mood. Her heavy smoking habit is likely a coping mechanism for the stresses in her life.
 * Bo Burnham as Germ Warfare- Germ had a brother who has passed away. When Mae talks to him about the ghost she saw during Harfest, Germ tells her he doesn't believe in ghosts. Mae asks him why not and he tells her that he figures if ghosts existed his brother would have visited. Embarrassed, Mae drops the subject.
 * Donald Glover as Cole- Cole seems to have things relatively in check, unlike many of the other youths of Possum Springs. He appears to be in good spirits and is currently studying at an unnamed college/university away from the dying town. When encountered at the party in the woods, he appears friendly to Mae. When she starts to drunkenly rant about her failings, he expresses his concern at upsetting her.
 * Margaret Qualley as Lori Meyers- Lori is a somewhat socially awkward and morbid youth with a passion for horror movies, especially in the realms of filmmaking. Rather than attend Harfest, Lori will instead choose to watch horror films by herself. Her interest into the macabre sometimes even stretches into personal fascination, as Lori often has weird thoughts about murder or may seek out morbid videos.
 * Rachel Bloom as Aunt Molly- Aunt Molly is Mae's aunt (on her mother's side) and she currently works as a policewoman with the Possum Springs Police Department. Mae doesn't seem to get along with her very well, but although stern at times, Aunt Molly does seem to have her best interests at heart.
 * Willem Dafoe as Stan Borowski- Stan is a hard-working father with a traditional outlook on family, lamenting that he is incapable of fully providing for his wife to have time and money for her own hobbies. This causes Stan to hate his job at Ham Panther, as he believes a job should be able to provide a living wage, regular hours, and respect.
 * Nicole Kidman as Candy Borowski- Candy is a sweet, kind-hearted individual, and a hard-working woman who helps take care of her family. She can be seen frequently reading dark and often creepy novels, a morbid interest she and her daughter often bond over.
 * Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mr. Chazokov- Mr. Chazokov was a teacher when Mae attended school and lodges with the Forrester family.
 * Jeremy Strong as Bruce- Bruce was originally from a place northeast of Possum Springs. He worked many jobs, from railroads, mines, and construction. Back in the 70s, he was in Possum Springs when they needed miners.
 * Mackenzie Davis as Selmers- Selmers is a laid-back and easy-going person, often found resting on the stoop of her house. She enjoys poetry and has gone as far as to join the Possum Springs Poetry Society to share her works.
 * KJ Apa as Casey Hartley- Casey seemed to have a wild streak, regularly partaking in 'crimes' with Gregg and Mae before he disappeared. The cultists who knew him determined that he wouldn't do much and that he wasn't of much use to the town; deducing that he wouldn't be missed by many.
 * Terry Gilliam as Mae's Grandfather- Very little is known of his early years, or of any time other than after Mae's birth. In Lost Constellation, he is shown to read Mae bedtime stories which we can assume was a common occurrence. He would read scary stories and this probably spawned, if not fueled, Mae's love for scary ghost stories. He also left her his large collection of horror stories, something Mae greatly appreciates.
 * Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as Garbo & Malloy- Like many late-night comedy show hosts, Garbo and Malloy often mix topical discussions about Night in the Woods' societal issues and politics with comedic jokes of various length and quality. They both joke about each other's appearances, love life, and careers with a friendly air, often riffing or bouncing off of one another's jokes', much to the public audience's pleasure.

Development
Scott Benson wanted to make a movie about Night in the Woods prior to Holowka's death. In an interview with Polygon, Benson stated that "it's what he would have wanted" when he was funding the game on Kickstarter. He wished the movie's artstyle to be similar to the 2018 movie Spider Man-Into the Spider Verse, because that would have apparently evolved the game's artstyle by a lot. In June of 2022, several studios, including Annapurna Pictures, Legendary Entertainment, and Universal Studios, were reported to have bid on the film's rights, with Annapurna having Travis Knight as director, Legendary starring Emma Watson as Mae, and Universal getting DreamWorks Animation to animate the movie. The rights ended up in the hands of Warner Bros. for $27 million dollars.

After getting the rights, the studio hired Dan Lin and Nicole Kidman to produce the movie as well as to oversee animation. Lin suggested Guy Ritchie to write and direct the movie, after the two collaborated on each other for Sherlock Holmes and the 2019 remake of Aladdin. Ritchie, however declined the offer, saying that a movie like this needs the right director, and did not think he was up for the job. Meanwhile in Soho, Kidman met up with Edgar Wright, and made him a deal to direct the movie. Warner Bros officially announced Wright as director, making this Wright's animated feature film, since Shadows got cancelled.

Casting
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