Two-time Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett is heading to Greece’s Messenia in the Peloponnese to star in the highly anticipated drama, Sweetsick.
Following Christopher Nolan’s recent Odyssey production, Hollywood has once again turned its attention to the unique landscape of Greece, specifically the rugged, beautiful coastline and villages of Mani.
Sweetsick marks the feature directorial debut of acclaimed writer Alice Birch, known for her sharp screenplays for Lady Macbeth and The Wonder, and her Emmy-winning work on HBO’s Succession and Normal People.
Confirmed cast and intriguing plot
The film is headlined by Blanchett, who is also producing under her Dirty Films banner. She will star alongside British actor Spike Fearn, who is best known for his role in The Batman.
The plot of Sweetsick is described as an emotionally charged fantasy drama. The film follows a mercurial woman (Blanchett) with a strange and piercing gift—the ability to see what others most intimately need, often at great personal cost—who sets out on a journey home.
The focus on a “journey home” provides a powerful context for the production’s choice of the intensely historic and personal landscapes of the Mani Peninsula. Searchlight Pictures is distributing the film, with production by House Productions and co-financing from Film4.
Filming locations in Messenian Mani
The Greek portion of the principal photography, which began in October 2025 in the United Kingdom, is now underway in Messenian Mani. Filming in Greece is slated to run from November 4 to November 9. Shots will be captured across the stunning villages of Kardamyli, Trachila, and Petrovouni, as well as along the regional road connecting Agiou Dimitriou and Trachila.
In a detail perfectly suited to the film’s premise of a “journey home,” the finale is reportedly set to unfold in the heart of Mani, featuring a scene described as one of “catharsis and a return to roots.” The chosen locations of the Mani Peninsula are renowned for their profound beauty and unique character. The villages, with their distinct, often fortified, stone tower houses and views of the Taygetus Mountains plunging into the sea, offer a dramatic and isolated atmosphere.
This powerful setting—steeped in history and myth—is expected to lend a raw, emotional intensity to Blanchett’s character’s tumultuous journey. Production crews have established bases in Kardamyli and Trachila, working quickly to utilize the unique natural light and architecture of the area for this major international project.
