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EXCLUSIVE: Emmy and Grammy–winner Blair Underwood and former Super Bowl champion Vernon Davis (The Ritual Killer) are set to topline The Listeners, an upcoming psychological thriller from director Joslyn Rose (Stand).
The ensemble cast also includes Bechir Sylvain (Jurassic World: Rebirth), Simone Leanora (Jurassic Park: Rebirth), Taylor Talley (Starstruck), and Cindy Herron of Grammy–winning R&B group En Vogue, marking the latter’s first film role since 2019.
Written by Rose and Dominique Mouton (The Lower Bottoms), the synopsis reads: “David (Davis), a once-brilliant jazz musician, can no longer hear music. Doctors (Underwood and Leanora) search for a diagnosis while debating whether his condition is neurological or psychological, but answers remain elusive. As pressure mounts to institutionalize him, David is guided through an unconventional therapy that pulls him into memories of faith, discipline, and unresolved trauma.”
Lead producers include Mouton under her Dido Belle Productions banner, Davis under his Reel 85 Productions banner, Underwood, Rose, Anwulika Oputa, and Gary Reeves. Daytime Emmy winner Reeves has served as a social impact advisor to the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.
Screen vet Underwood has been Golden Globe nominated for L.A. Law and In Treatment and won a Daytime Emmy in 2017 for Give. He was Tony nominated in 2020 for his lead performance in A Soldier’s Play.
Since retiring from the NFL in 2020, two-time Pro Bowler Davis has reinvented himself as an actor and producer on a string of projects. He has also founded production firms Reel 85 and Between the Linez Productions.
Rose is best known for directing 2023 Emmy-nominated Showtime documentary Stand, about the journey of basketball prodigy Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, whose refusal to stand during the U.S. national anthem on socio-political grounds became a major media talking point before Colin Kaepernick.
The Listeners has personal resonance for Davis, who has partnered with Rose on multiple projects over the past decade. He explained: “This character allows me to tell a personal truth. Mental health has profoundly shaped my family. I’ve lost my sister, my mother, and two brothers over struggles connected to it, and this film is a way to honor them and help break the silence so many families live with.”
Rose said of the project: “My vision for The Listeners comes from my perception of the transformative power of music as a tool for healing and self-discovery. I’ve been inspired by the quiet, psychological terrain of The Twilight Zone, where inner perception becomes its own kind of truth. Even in silence, something within us is still listening, carrying an inner light that brings us back to ourselves.”
English (US) ·