Claire Keegan’s “So Late in the Day” is headed to the big screen, Deadline reports.
Keegan’s short story, published in the New Yorker in 2022, tells the story of the collapsing relationship between an office worker named Cathal and his fiancée, Sabine. It was collected in Keegan’s 2023 book, So Late in the Day, which received a starred review in Kirkus. A critic called the stories “compact but deep explorations of human vulnerability from a master of the form.”
Sara McFarlane (Love, Brooklyn) will produce the film, which will be written and directed by Maria McIndoo (A Love Letter to M). Keegan will executive produce.
Keegan’s novella Foster was adapted into the 2020 film The Quiet Girl, directed by Colm Bairéad and starring Catherine Clinch and Carrie Crowley. Another of her novellas, Small Things Like These, formed the basis for the 2024 film of the same name, directed by Tim Mielants and starring Cillian Murphy and Emily Watson.
“I am so excited to be working with Maria in bringing So Late in the Day to life,” McFarlane told Deadline. “There are so many things that I love about this short story: the subtlety, the nuance, that every word is written with intent and that it stays with you long after you’ve read it. At a time where equality is treated as an imposition on the other, Claire’s careful and considered story feels more relevant than ever.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
