EXCLUSIVE: Factual producer Dash Pictures is moving into scripted and has finished shooting its first project, Better, a feature film in which Game of Thrones and The Umbrella Academy’s Tom Hopper plays identical twins.
The psychological thriller stars Hopper as Henry, a man at a low ebb who meets a long-lost identical twin, Patrick, who appears to be much better than him in every way, sparking an existential crisis of dangerous proportions.
Anna O’Malley (Slow Horses) produces and Dash founder Daniel Sharp helms, marking his feature directorial debut. Omid Ghaffarian is the writer.
Dash recently announced a slate of factual shows including a Genghis Khan series for Nat Geo, a country house show that has been pre-bought by Channel 4, and What Really Happened: American Independence, a doc series for the 250th anniversary of 1776 Declaration of Independence and a follow-up from Dash’s earlier show Frontier.
These projects see Dash on familiar ground, making docs and factual series, and it has garnered four Emmy noms for its unscripted work. Sharp told Deadline that the move into scripted series and film has been a long-held ambition for Dash.
“We have achieved a certain level of quality in our unscripted work and we’ve been trying to wait for the right time to do scripted at what feels like the same level,” he said. “We have acquired the options to a few books and we are developing a lot more scripted, both films and series.”
In Better Hopper plays both Henry and his newfound twin, Patrick. Henry is struggling with a failing marriage and trapped in a job he hates. Grieving the recent death of his estranged father, his life is falling apart when he meets his long-lost identical twin. As the brothers reconnect, Henry begins to unravel, plagued by self-doubt and a growing obsession with Patrick’s seemingly charmed existence. What begins as a reunion quickly spirals into a psychological descent.
“This is a very special project, which touches on two ends of the spectrum of mental health but told through the lives of two estranged twin brothers,” Hopper told Deadline. “Playing twins is something I have always wanted to attempt at some point in my career. Diving deep into these two was really fun and a challenge in itself — to define both of their nuances and to really have the audience believe these characters are not being played by the same actor.”
Hopper is also a producer on Better, alongside his wife Laura who is also an actor and stars in the film. “Sometimes as an actor you can feel separated from that side of things, which can leave you with a lot of questions,” he said. “So, from a creative standpoint it was amazing for myself and Laura to be a part of every conversation.”
In TV, Dash works with various distributors including the likes of Fremantle, Sphere Abacus, DCD and Boat Rocker. It is now starting to talk to sales agents for Better.
“As we move into post, I think it’s that same ethos of really working to make sure we pick and find the right partners,” Sharp said. “We’ve been really lucky that we’ve been able to make this and finance it and put everything together without having to pre-sell any territories.”
He added that the scripted slate is taking shape. “There’s a book that we’ve just bought, which is set in Ireland. We know that it’s a manageable production and that we could execute that to a high standard. There are a few other things that we’re starting to develop that are maybe a little bit more ambitious, but we wouldn’t greenlight those until we really have the backing and the finance that we need to execute.”
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