Swedish actress Noomi Rapace is all set to play Mother Teresa in the biopic named Mother. It will be helmed by Teona Strugar Mitevska, the director of the acclaimed 2019 film God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya. The announcement was made during Cannes` Marché du Film, taking place from 14-22 May 2024. 

Rapace will play the Catholic saint, who made Calcutta her home, in the film which will follow seven days at a pivotal moment in Mother Teresa’s life, the period where she decided to leave Loreto Entally and launch her own order.

Mother will be Mitevska’s English-language debut. The director has called Rapace, the star of big-ticket films like The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Prometheus, "a perfect fit” for the role of Mother Teresa, who will be imagined as a rebellious, almost punk-like figure fighting against the structures of the Catholic church.

Mitevska, who was born in Northern Macedonia where Mother Teresa hailed from, said she “grew up with the myth of Mother Teresa” but “as an existentialist” wasn’t interested in the religious figure until she did a documentary on her life for local TV and that she developed a new appreciation for her. “I absolutely related to her as a woman and I saw a lot of myself in her.”

Mitevska worked on the docu series Teresa and I for Macedonian television more than a decade ago. Mother Teresa’s inspiring persona, not as a religious icon but as an empowering female figure, is what sparked her wish to make this feature. Shot between India and Belgium, the film is eyeing a release in 2026.

K. Gjozev