Old MacDonald had a farm and so does Tom Rob Smith, the bestselling novelist whose Soviet-era thriller Child 44 is currently blazing to the screen like a Tom Hardy-shaped bullet. His follow-up novel, The Farm, has been picked up by BBC Films and Shine Pictures with a view to a movie adaptation.
Unlike tne aforementioned farmer, whose day-to-day is mostly concerned with oink-oinks and baa-baas, Smith’s collection of barns and outhouses holds a dark secret. Daniel, a 29 year-old Londoner, believes his mum and dad are living a quiet existence in a southern Swedish farmstead, until a call comes through saying that his mum has had a psychiatric episode and is on the lam from her hospital ward.
Soon afterwards his troubled mother, Tilde, touches down in London with wild claims of conspiracy and a cargo of evidence against Daniel’s dad. The plot, as they say, thickens.
Says the head of BBC Films, Christine Langan: “The Farm skewers you on the horns of a fabulous dilemma while effortlessly drawing you into a curious and strangely sinister world. Tom Rob Smith’s latest novel is a sophisticated, layered narrative with real page-turning urgency and BBC Films is thrilled to be partnering with Shine in its journey to the big screen.”
With four million plus copies of Child 44 sold and a BBC miniseries, London Spy, accompanying that Hardy/Daniel Espinosa adaptation later this year, Smith is a name to watch. More on this one as we get it.