A new movie will explore the notorious Roman Polanski statutory rape scandal from the perspective of the 13-year-old girl, Samantha Geimer.
The Girl, based on Geimer’s 2013 memoir The Girl: A Life in the Shadow of Roman Polanski, will trace her time in the famous director’s orbit in the 1970s, her experience being subjected to sexual assault and the media maelstrom that followed after Polanski, then 43, was arrested in 1977 on charges of statutory rape and lewd and lascivious act with a child.
Polanski, the acclaimed director of such films as Rosemary’s Baby and Chinatown, admitted to statutory rape in a plea bargain to avoid more serious charges, but fled to France the following year after serving 42 days in jail. He has been a fugitive from the US ever since.
The new film will be the feature writing-directing debut for French-American film-maker Marina Ziolkowski, whose short 19 was nominated for a César – the French Oscars – in 2021. Dree Hemingway, from Sean Baker’s Starlet, and The Substance’s Gore Abrams will star as Geimer’s parents Susan and Bob, while the title role will be played by 13-year-old American-Ukrainian newcomer Carolyn Kachen. Producers said Kachen, whose theater credits include Annie and Matilda, was selected from hundreds of young actors following “a striking audition that signals a breakout” talent, according to Deadline.
Per the logline, the film “revisits one of Hollywood’s most notorious scandals through the eyes of the person most misrepresented by it … As the case erupts across headlines, Samantha and her mother are thrust into a relentless media storm – she’s hounded by paparazzi and stripped of privacy at the moment where she most needs protection. Together, mother and daughter must fight to reclaim Samantha’s voice and preserve what remains of her childhood.”
Geimer, who has since forgiven Polanski and remained in periodic contact with him, said in statement: “This story has been a lifelong burden for all of us involved. I never imagined it could be transformed into something beautiful. Marina’s creativity and sensitivity made that possible – and that, to me, is a gift.”
While reading Geimer’s memoir, Ziolkowski was struck by her “voice – clear, courageous, and long erased from the public narrative”, the director said in a statement. “This film is not about Roman Polanski; it is about returning Samantha’s story to her after years of being shaped by others. Told entirely through Samantha’s memories and inner life, the film restores her agency and complexity. Intimate and immersive, The Girl is a deeply human act of reclamation – confronting how power, myth, and media distortion erased a child’s truth, and honoring her resilience.”
The project, one of the rare European productions to secure a US tax credit, will begin shooting in Los Angeles later this year.
Separate from Geimer, four other women came forward between 2017 and 2019 accusing Polanski of abusing them in the 1970s – three of them were minors, including the artist Marianne Barnard who said Polanski sexually assaulted her when she was 10. In 2010, the British actor Charlotte Lewis accused Polanski of sexually assaulting her in 1983 when she was 16.
Polanski, now 92, has denied all of the allegations. In May 2024, a French court acquitted Polanski of defaming Lewis after he denied raping her when she was a teenager. That October, another lawsuit concerning an alleged sexual assault of a 16-year-old in 1973, was dismissed after a settlement to “the mutual satisfaction of both parties”.
