projects in development
THE BOY WHO BELONGED TO THE SEA
Adapted from Denis Thériault's Novel
Drama
Language: English
EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS
The White Lotus Picture Company holds the Sole and Exclusive Rights to adapt
The Boy who Belonged to the Sea.
SYNOPSIS
Set on the rugged north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada, The Boy who Belonged to the Sea tells the story of two lonely boys united by grief. Together they take refuge in a magical undersea world of their own creation, searching for a sense of belonging. But for one of them the line between fantasy and reality begins to blur, and the loyalty of his friend is put to the test in a journey that threatens to end in tragedy. In The Boy who Belonged to the Sea is an opportunity to create a hardy but beautiful and exotic world, populated by damaged yet gutsy and inspiring characters. Their brave choices and imaginative actions forge a highly emotional and compelling story, with life and death stakes and underpinned by motifs rich with intrigue and wonder. The Boy Who Belonged to the Sea is a mix of fantasy, melodrama, looming adolescence and nostalgia. Imagine Heavenly Creatures meets The Shape of Water and My Life as a Dog.
‘A dreamy, underwater experience, this brief novel by Thériault is a hallucinogenic dive into another realm… Here is a fragile poetry, charming and childlike in its simplicity, yet profound on the unfathomable depths of loss, of love. ’
Irish Times
‘Thériault’s dreamy, nautical debut which blurs reality and fantasy in a heart breaking story of boyhood friendship’
Cosmopolitan
‘Thériault is a writer with a lightness of touch, allowing him to explore darker themes in a way that never feels heavy, but always engages’.
Wiltshire Living
Illustrations by Oscar Rai Darby
