Following the reveal of past social media posts that made headlines for all the wrong reasons,Emilia PérezstarKarla Sofía Gascónisonce again courting controversywith her new film,The Life Lift. First-timer Italian director Stefania Rossella Grassi is set to helm the project, which will also starVincent Gallo– who’s no stranger to controversy himself – and depict Gascón as a psychiatrist who “embodies both God and the devil.”
Variety broke the news aboutThe Life Lifttoday, which is said to be a psychological thriller that has Gallo portraying a man named Gabriel “who lives in a small New York apartment and becomes persecuted by Post-its left in the building’s elevator.” It’s giving off seriesThe X-Filesvibes already. Materials obtained by the outlet regarding the film note that the messages “order him to commit atrocious murders of three other tenants who, in turn, want to kill their next-of-kin.”
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Grassi mentioned thatThe Life Liftis already in development, and has a budget of around $3 million. Filming is expected to get underway late in 2025 and last until February 2026. Described as “perturbing, livid and hypnotic,” no release date has been set yet, nor has it been revealed how Gascón’s psychiatrist character fits into the plot; though it’s assumed that she will play second to Gallo’s obviously disturbed Gabriel, holding some sort of control over him.
Karla Sofía Gascón and Vincent Gallo Are a Match Made in Hell
While we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves and say that filmingThe Life Liftwill be a challenge for Grassi, seeing how she’s a first-time director dealing with two massive egos, it’s safe to say that all eyes will be on Gascón and Gallo as things progress. TheEmilia Pérezstar made headlines in January after journalist Sarah Hagi uncovered past social media posts that many deemed to be racist and offensive. She’s since called herself “less racist than Gandhi,” and given half-hearted apologies here and there after failing to win the Oscar for Best Actress.
Meanwhile, Gallo has courted controversy himself many times in his career (The Brown Bunny, anyone?), with the latest example being his and James Franco’s filmThe Policeman. The movie is currently in post-production and stars Gallo as real-life serial killer and rapist Joseph James DeAngelo, but – believe it or not – that’s not the controversial part. Instead, the movie drew aninvestigation by the Screen Actors Guild in 2024due to accusations from three actresses claiming that Gallo made several degrading comments and intimidated women during the audition process. It should be noted that SAG-AFTRA said at the time that they would "continue to monitor and investigate" matters, but thus far there’s been no word on what, if anything, they discovered.
Either way, with Gascón and Gallo’s history, you could say that they’re a match made in hell for any director, so it will be interesting to see how Grassi handles her two stars should things get out of line. You can check out Gascón’s performance inEmilia Pérezstreaming now on Netflix, and as for Gallo? There’s no word yet on whenThe Policemanmight see the light of day.
Source:Variety
Emilia Perez
