NEON will open Clarissa in select U.S. theaters on December 11, 2026, the studio announced Wednesday.
The film is the second feature from twin directors Arie and Chuko Esiri, following Eyimofe (This Is My Desire). It premiered in the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes, becoming only the second Nigerian feature selected in the festival's history.
Clarissa reimagines Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, relocating the story to Lagos. Sophie Okonedo and India Amarteifio play the title character across different decades, with Okonedo hosting a party where she reconnects with old friends over the course of one night. The cast also includes David Oyelowo, Ayo Edebiri, Toheeb Jimoh, Fortune Nwafor, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Jude Akuwudike, Danny Sapani, Modesinuola Ogundiwin, Chuks Joseph, Kehinde Cardoso, Jable Osai and Joke Silva. Casting was done by Nina Gold.
Chuko wrote the script; Arie and Chuko directed together. The film was produced by Theresa Park (Per Capita Productions), Nicholas Weinstock (Invention Studio) and the Esiri brothers, and was shot entirely in Nigeria. Jonathan Bloom shot the film, Blair McClendon (Aftersun) edited it, Kelsey Lu composed the score, Eniola Dawodu designed costumes and Hanrui Wang handled production design.
Writing for Akoroko, Tambay Obenson observed that the film captures a stratum of British-Nigerian elite life — privilege, servants, old friends, social codes — that almost never reaches the screen.
Clarissa joins NEON's 2026 slate alongside Cristian Mungiu's Palme d'Or winner Fjord, James Gray's Paper Tiger, Ryusuke Hamaguchi's All of a Sudden and other titles.