Here are the parts of the book I'm most looking forward to seeing reimagined in film. Plus, with Gina Prince-Bythewood directing and collaborating with Gay herself on the screenplay, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw cast as Mirielle, we know the story is in good hands. With full characters for actors to dig into and moments that hit the audience in every place, it promises to be the kind of film you can't look away from.

But the fact of the matter is that so much of An Untamed State is going to translate amazingly well to film. It is a powerful reading experience, and it brings an important perspective to life.Ĭonsidering this book contains so much pain, it feels cruel to say how much I'm looking forward to seeing it. But in An Untamed State we feel Mirielle's horrors and their lasting effects right along with her how the rape and the poor treatment rip her in half and strip her from her own identity. Many kidnapping stories feature abuse, but it is often shown as shock value and everything is solved once the victim is found. We experience Mirielle, as a woman and as a victim, to a depth never before seen. This book is primarily about the woman who was taken, not the game of trying to find her. What makes the novel particularly unique is Gay's treatment of her main character, Mirielle. Sometimes I wonder if Gay was so sick of seeing the same tropes played out that she decided to fix the genre.

It's high time they made this brilliant book into a movie.Īn Untamed State is so much more than your standard abduction story. (And go get yourself a copy, because it's an amazing book.) It's no secret that I worship the ground Roxane Gay walks on and the paper she writes on, so when I heard there was an An Untamed State film coming our way, I (like the rest of of the publishing world) freaked out.

If you haven't read An Untamed State, turn back now unless you want to get spoiled. Last week, Roxane Gay announced that her debut novel, An Untamed State, is headed for the big screen. Spoilers: An Untamed State, Trigger warning: rape, gang rape, abduction

An untamed state by roxane gay