A movie adaptation of Ben Reeves’ Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt is in the works, Deadline reports.
Reeves’ debut novel, published last month by Avid Reader Press, follows Travis Smith, whose job is to comfort people in the hours before their death. His life becomes more complicated when he befriends his neighbors, a midwife named Dalia and her two children. A critic for Kirkus called the book “an evocative, kaleidoscopic affirmation of life from the perspective of Death.”
The film adaptation will be directed by Marc Turtletaub, whose previous credits include Gods Behaving Badly, Puzzle, and Jules.
Turtletaub confirmed his involvement in the project in an interview about his latest film, Borges and Me, an adaptation of Jay Parini’s 2020 book, which a Kirkus reviewer called “a captivating chronicle and homage.” That film is scheduled to screen this weekend at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
In the interview, Turtletaub said, “The next one is based on a book written by the British author Ben Reeves. It’s called Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt. It just came out and, in its first week, was on the New York Times bestseller list, so we think it’s quite special.”
There is as yet no word on any writers and producers who will be working on the Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt adaptation.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
