Nicole Kidman Joins Horror Maestro Osgood Perkins for The Young People
Nicole Kidman dives into the dark, joining The Young People, the next nightmare from Longlegs and Keeper director Osgood Perkins.
Osgood Perkins is quietly building his next nightmare, and he just added a ringer: Nicole Kidman. Yes, that Nicole Kidman. The movie is called 'The Young People', and even though everyone involved is being cagey, there are a few intriguing breadcrumbs worth picking up.
So, who is actually in this thing?
- Nicole Kidman (Best Actress Oscar winner for 'The Hours')
- Lola Tung ('The Summer I Turned Pretty')
- Nico Parker ('How to Train Your Dragon')
- Tatiana Maslany ('The Monkey')
- Heather Graham ('Suitable Flesh')
- Johnny Knoxville ('Jackass')
- Lexi Minetree ('The Paramedic Who Stalked Me')
- Lily Collias ('Good One')
- Brendan Hines ('Lie to Me')
- Cush Jumbo ('The Good Wife')
Production is already underway. Tung and Parker were announced three months ago, a big supporting batch (Maslany through Jumbo) dropped two weeks back, and now they have revealed the last card: Kidman. Roles are under lock and key across the board.
What they are hiding (and the one telling clue)
Perkins wrote and is directing, and the team is keeping the plot so secret you would think it owes them money. But when cameras started rolling, Neon posted an image of the script online on August 28, 2025. At the top of page 76, you can see a reference to 'The Old Ones' — a classic nod to Lovecraft territory. That is the only real hint they have let slip.
'A Bad Trip from Osgood Perkins.'
That tagline came with Neon's post, along with the confirmation that Tung and Parker are front and center. Between the 'Bad Trip' tease and the Lovecraft breadcrumb, expect something unsettling rather than jump-scare loud.
Who is backing it and why that matters
This is one of the first projects out of Phobos, the production banner Perkins launched with producer Chris Ferguson earlier this year with Neon backing. Under their first-look deal, Neon will shepherd the films Perkins writes and directs (and those he produces for other directors), release them in U.S. theaters, and handle international rights. Perkins is still working with Brian Kavanaugh-Jones of Range, and on this one, Perkins, Ferguson, and Kavanaugh-Jones are all producing. Financing is a Neon and Lyrical Media split.
Perkins has hit the gas
Quick refresher on his run: Perkins debuted with 'The Blackcoat's Daughter' in 2015, followed fast by 'I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House' in 2016. Then came a four-year gap to 'Gretel & Hansel', another four-year wait for 'Longlegs', and suddenly he flipped into overdrive — 'The Monkey' landed in theaters just seven months after 'Longlegs', 'Keeper' is out this Friday, and now 'The Young People' is already filming. That is a serious gear shift.
Bottom line: adding Kidman to this lineup makes an already intriguing, very secretive horror project feel like a bigger swing. If 'The Old Ones' tease is literal, Perkins might be playing with some very old, very nasty cosmic toys. Curious where your hype meter sits on this one?