Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark compare House of the Dragon and The Rings of Power to their new horror movie

Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark are some of the biggest names in the fantasy world right now, thanks to their leading roles in House of the Dragon and The Rings of Power respectively. However, their next project is on a much smaller, and altogether more sinister, scale.

The duo star as a married couple in the upcoming horror movie Starve Acre, directed by Apostasy’s Daniel Kokotajlo. Speaking to Total Film in our new issue out on Thursday, July 19, which features Alien: Romulus on the cover, the pair said they bonded over their franchise work on the set of the folk thriller.  

“Totally we did,” Smith tells us when we ask if they compared notes on set. “Making Starve Acre or making Saint Maud is a different beast to making House of the Dragon or Lord of the Rings. It’s a different experience, a different context, a different time. It’s just different everything.”

Clark agrees, adding: “I did this just before Rings of Power [Season 1] came out. I didn’t realize how lucky I was to be working with Matt, because obviously he has done huge things, and huge press tours. He really calmed me down, and guided me, and reassured me that it would all be OK.”

Check out an exclusive image from Starve Acre below:

(Image credit: Chris Harris/BFI Distribution)

However, despite their big-scale work, it was actually the smaller projects in their respective filmographies that drew director Kokotajlo to them for Starve Acre. For Clark, it was her breakout turn in Saint Maud, and, for Smith, it was Mary Harron’s Charlie Says, where the actor again plays against type as cult leader Charles Manson.

Smith and Clark star as Richard and Juliette in Starve Acre, a married couple who must deal with the unthinkable when their son dies under mysterious circumstances. The gulf between them widens as they mourn in different ways, with Juliette leaning on her sister for support. Meanwhile, Richard becomes obsessed with an ancient tree buried in their garden, as you can see in our exclusive image above.

Pre-order the Alien: Romulus issue of Total Film

Starve Acre is released in cinemas on September 6. And you can read more about it and a whole lot else besides in the new issue of Total Film when it hits shelves and digital newsstands on Thursday, July 19.

Check out the covers below:

(Image credit: 20th Century Studios/Disney)

Pre-order the issue here to bag your copy, or click here to subscribe to Total Film and never miss another exclusive. You’ll get every issue before it’s in stores, and you’ll get subscriber-exclusive covers. 

(Image credit: Total Film/20th Century Studios/Disney/Marvel Studios/Warner Bros/Prime Video/Universal)