First Look At John Hawkes, William H. Macy & Helen Hunt In ‘The Surrogate’

That’s right, the Sundance Film Festival is right around the corner, which means just as you’re catching up with all of the movies from 2011, there’s a whole new batch to get to know in 2012. So prepare for a bunch of images and other promo material in the next few weeks for a handful of films.

One of the movies playing in competition in Park City will be Ben Lewin‘s “The Surrogate,” and it’s definitely one to keep an eye on. The film will star John Hawkes, albeit in a role unlike anything we’ve seen him do before. He’ll play journalist and poet Mark O’Brien, in the movie based on his life. Stricken with polio at the age of six, he was left paralyzed from the neck down and spent the remainder of life in an iron lung. That did little, however, to stop O’Brien’s ambitions, and he ended up completing a B.A. in English literature. But this movie will center on his journey to lose his virginity, something he achieves with the help of his therapist and his priest. With Helen Hunt and William H. Macy in supporting roles, this sounds like exactly the complex, rich fare the festival was created for. Check the images below.

The Sundance Film Festival runs from January 19-29. [via The Film Stage]