“Emilia Pérez” star Karla Sofía Gascón has set her first project after controversy erupted in January over her past offensive tweets. The Oscar nominee revealed that she will lead “The Life Lift,” a psychological thriller co-starring Vincent Gallo and directed by Italian first-timer Stefania Rossella Grassi. According to the film’s synopsis, Gascón is set to play a psychiatrist who “embodies both God and the devil.”
Gallo, the controversial director and star of “The Brown Bunny” and “Buffalo ’66,” is set for a role in “The Life Lift” as a tormented character named Gabriel, who lives in a small New York apartment and becomes persecuted by Post-its left in the building’s elevator. These messages “order him to commit atrocious murders of three other tenants who, in turn, want to kill their next-of-kin,” reads the film’s promotional materials, obtained exclusively by Variety.
Gascón first announced last week that she will co-star in “The Life Lift” with Gallo to journalists in Italy, where she is being celebrated by Turin’s Lovers Film Festival, Europe’s oldest fest dedicated to LGBTQ+ films. Gallo could not immediately be reached to confirm.
Rossella Grassi is a multi-hyphenate who has directed several shorts, including one against femicide titled “Preludio,” which features Isabella Rossellini and Franco Nero in its voice cast. The director told Variety in an email that the plan is to shoot “The Life Lift,” which is in advanced development and has a roughly $3 million budget, between the end of this year and February 2026. She co-wrote the screenplay with regular collaborator Tommaso Scutari. Rossella Grassi is producing the thriller — which is described as “perturbing, livid and hypnotic” — with Carmela Arena through their Dizy Production shingle, which previously produced a short by the director titled “La Fune.”
Gascón’s awards season campaign for “Emilia Pérez” imploded when she came under fire for social media posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, in which she expressed controversial views on Muslims, George Floyd and diversity at the Oscars. The scandal came as Jacques Audiard’s drug cartel musical was the frontrunner for best picture, earning a top 13 nominations and eventually taking home two statues. Gascón, who was nominated for best actress alongside Demi Moore and winner Mikey Madison, apologized for the tweets and ended up attending the awards ceremony, though she did not walk the red carpet.
Gallo has also been prone to controversy throughout his career, most recently when his upcoming movie “The Policeman” was investigated by SAG-AFTRA last year after three female actors who auditioned for the film filed complaints alleging inappropriate conduct.
Following “Emilia Pérez,” it was announced last year that Gascón would star in the Spanish-language trans fable “Las Mala” directed by Armando Bó, who won an Oscar for co-writing Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 2014 drama “Birdman.”
Gascón, who has a close rapport with Italy, is likely to be seen next in Italian comedy “Men and Other Inconveniences.” The film, shot prior to “Emilia Pérez,” was directed by Los Angeles-based Italo-Belgian director Giorgio Serafini (“Senior Moment”).
