Per Deadline, A Tree Is Blue will tell the story of “a young woman on the autism spectrum who breaks free from her overprotective but loving mother in search of freedom, friendship, and a little chaos in the summer after high school graduation.” The project’s screenplay was written by Johnson’s Cha Cha Real Smooth co-star Vanessa Burghardt, who is on the spectrum herself. Burghardt is also in talks to star in the film, along with Jessica Alba and Charli xcx, whose upcoming film The Moment just got a flashy (literally) teaser from A24. The “Sympathy Is A Knife” singer will soon be seen in I Want Your Sex, 100 Nights Of Hero, Faces Of Death, Erupcja, and a slew of others. Alba recently starred in Netflix’s Trigger Warning. She’ll also appear in upcoming series Confessions On The 7:45 and spy thriller The Mark.
Johnson teased the project earlier this summer during a press roundtable at the Czech Republic’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (via The Hollywood Reporter). “I think I will direct a feature, a very small one, hopefully soon,” the Materialists actor said. “And it’s really close to my heart and very close to (the production company she co-founded) TeaTime. We’re making it with Vanessa Burghardt, who played my daughter in Cha Cha Real Smooth. She’s an incredible autistic actress.”
While Johnson previously directed the music video for Coldplay’s “Cry Cry Cry” and a short film called Loser Baby, she said at the time that she’s “always felt that I’m not ready to direct a feature. I don’t have the confidence.” With Burghardt, however, “I feel very protective, and I know her very well, and… I just won’t let anybody else do it.”
