Raye to Make Feature Film Debut in "Lineage"

Raye is set to make her feature film debut starring in new crime thriller "Lineage" by filmmaker Yann Demange (Top Boy, ’71).

She’ll star opposite French screen legend Isabelle Huppert, Dali Benssalah, and Adam Bessa in the project.

The British singer-songwriter has previously made a cameo as herself in the 2025 Netflix limited series "Black Rabbit".

The role comes on the heels of Raye's second studio album "This Music May Contain Hope," released in March.

The high-profile crime drama is set to launch international sales at the Marché du Film during this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Veterans will lead international sales, with CAA Media Finance representing U.S. rights. Principal photography is set to begin in August in London.

The project also reunites Huppert and Bessa, who co-star in “Parallel Tales,” Asghar Farhadi’s latest feature premiering in competition at Cannes.

Written by Enda Walsh, whose credits include “Hunger,” and based on a story by Demange, “Lineage” was developed by the pair over the past two years. Set in contemporary multicultural London, the film follows Tariq, a father looking to rebuild his life after being released from prison.

Demange, whose credits include “Top Boy” and the acclaimed thriller “71,” described “Lineage” as deeply personal.

“‘Lineage’ is a homecoming for me in many ways,” he recounted, adding that the film will feature “characters I know very well at the center of the story, including a formidable crime boss matriarch.”

“It’s also my love letter to the London I grew up in and love. It’s important to me that the film both honors and delivers on the crime genre in an exciting and fresh way, whilst simultaneously exploring the complications of family and the possibility of transcending one’s beginnings,” continued the helmer, who broke through with his feature debut “71” which won him the British Independent Film Award for best director.

“Lineage” is produced by Wayward’s Thomas Benski and Meredith Duff, Crab Apple Films’ Angus Lamont, Carrousel’s Cécile Gaget, Besides Productions’ Christophe Toulemonde and Why Not Productions’ Pascal Caucheteux. 

Tessa Ross of House Productions, Richard Mansell of Strange Charm, Eva Yates of BBC Film are serving as executive producers. LPI, Lumina Studios and BBC Film are co-financing the movie.