Jenna MacMillan’s feature directorial debut, the dark comedy The Snake (Club Red Productions), has begun filming in her hometown of Charlottetown.

The Snake is produced by Sharlene Kelly and Melani Wood, and executive produced by MacMillan, Susan Kent (pictured) and Bill Lundy. Shooting will wrap on May 22, a spokesperson for the film told Playback Daily.

Written by Kent, (This Hour Has 22 Minutes), it follows a down-on-her-luck, ungovernable woman in her forties who seduces her best friend’s husband after getting dumped by her boyfriend and evicted by her mother.

The Snake stars Kent, Robin Duke (SCTV), Jonathan Torrens (Trailer Park Boys), Dan Petronijevic (Letterkenny), Emma Hunter (The Beaverton), James “Jimbo” Insell (RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars), Kenny Robinson (People of Comedy) and Kim Roberts (The Handmaid’s Tale).

The film is produced with the support of Telefilm Canada and Innovation PEI.

“I’ve always been drawn to stories of difficult women – the anti-heroines, the bad girls, the madwomen, but I’m bored of seeing them demonized or sanitized,” said MacMillan in a statement. “Susan’s brilliant script dared me to confront the ugly, beautiful messiness of life.”

According to the spokesperson, the film’s producers are “gearing up for film festivals and looking for the right home for the film.”

MacMillan and Kent previously worked together on Jeremy Larter’s 2023 feature Who’s Yer Father?, starring Kent and produced by MacMillan.

Photo by Justin Rix