Celebrated Canadian Writer Teams Up With Filmmaker for New Speculative Novel: ‘A Perfect Creative Fit’

By: Ebenezer Adugyamfi & Emmanuel Ayiku for GhanaianNewsCanada
20 OCTOBER 2026

Canadian novelist Iain Reid has joined forces with filmmaker Ellie Foumbi on a new novel that blends psychological suspense, surreal storytelling and questions about identity, ambition and technology.

The book, A New Kind of Clean, marks a creative collaboration between Reid, the bestselling author known for I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Foe and We Spread, and Foumbi, the writer and director behind the acclaimed film Our Father, the Devil.

The project grew out of an unexpected connection between the two artists, who initially lived in different countries and had never met in person. What began as a congratulatory message from Reid to Foumbi eventually developed into a collaboration spanning a short story, a screenplay and a novel.

Their partnership reflects the growing creative exchange between literature and cinema, where stories can move between different formats and gain new dimensions as writers and filmmakers bring their individual perspectives to the same material.

An unexpected partnership

The collaboration began in 2022, after Foumbi’s debut feature film, Our Father, the Devil, received attention at the Tribeca Festival.

Reid, whose work had already attracted interest from filmmakers, was intrigued by the way Foumbi’s film was being described. He reached out to congratulate her, without expecting that the exchange would lead to a joint literary project.

At the time, Foumbi had also read Reid’s novel Foe, a psychological science-fiction story that explores marriage, identity and artificial intelligence in a future affected by environmental decline.

Their shared interest in stories that resist easy categorisation helped create a natural connection. Rather than beginning with a formal publishing arrangement or a commissioned project, the collaboration developed through discussions about the possibilities of a story Reid had written.

Reid sent Foumbi the short story, and she quickly responded with ideas for expanding it. Their conversations eventually led them to develop the material into a screenplay before exploring its potential as a novel.

The process allowed both artists to shape the story organically, without being confined to the expectations of a conventional adaptation.

What is A New Kind of Clean about?

At the centre of the novel is Missy Djalo, a struggling actress desperate for a breakthrough in her career.

When she receives an opportunity to audition for a commercial, she believes it could be the chance she has been waiting for. However, the audition gradually becomes unsettling as the boundaries between reality and fantasy begin to blur.

What initially appears to be an opportunity for professional advancement develops into a disturbing experience that forces questions about identity, personal ambition and the price of pursuing success.

The story uses psychological suspense and surreal elements to explore how people respond when their deepest desires become entangled with uncertainty and forces they cannot fully understand.

Technology also forms part of the novel’s wider thematic landscape, reflecting questions about how modern systems shape identity, influence human behaviour and challenge the distinction between what is authentic and what is manufactured.

Rather than relying exclusively on conventional science-fiction devices, the book draws on elements of philosophical horror and psychological storytelling to create an atmosphere in which readers must question what is happening alongside its central character.

Why the collaboration works

Reid and Foumbi bring different professional experiences to the project.

Reid has built a reputation for economical prose, psychological tension and stories that leave room for readers to interpret what they encounter. His writing often creates unease through uncertainty, suggesting more than it explicitly explains.

Foumbi’s background in filmmaking brings a visual and dramatic sensibility to the partnership. Her work as a writer and director involves constructing stories through character, atmosphere, performance and the relationship between what audiences see and what they are encouraged to question.

Their collaboration allows those approaches to complement one another.

In interviews about the project, the pair have described the experience as unusually natural, with ideas developing quickly after they began exchanging material. Foumbi’s willingness to expand on Reid’s original concept helped convince him that they should continue developing it together.

Their partnership also demonstrates how creative collaboration can open up possibilities that might not emerge during solitary work. A second perspective can reveal unexplored dimensions of a character, identify weaknesses in a plot or suggest an entirely different direction for a story.

For Reid and Foumbi, the opportunity to experiment across formats became an important part of the project’s development.

From short story to screenplay and novel

The route taken by A New Kind of Clean is notable because it did not begin as a book commissioned by a publisher.

Reid initially developed the story in short form and shared it with Foumbi. They then worked on adapting it for the screen, with the screenplay providing an opportunity to explore the story’s dramatic possibilities.

As the project developed, the pair recognised that the narrative could support a novel as well.

The book gave them additional room to examine the characters’ motivations and relationships, including aspects of Missy’s life that were difficult to accommodate within the screenplay’s structure.

The experience also illustrates how adaptations do not always move in a single direction, from book to screen. In this case, the story’s development across different formats helped the collaborators reconsider its possibilities and return to the screenplay with new ideas.

Foumbi has indicated that the film remains a project in development, with the creative team working on financing and other elements needed to move production forward.

A growing relationship between literature and film

The partnership arrives at a time when novels, films, television productions and other storytelling formats increasingly influence one another.

Books can provide filmmakers with intricate characters and compelling concepts, while filmmakers can bring visual thinking and an understanding of dramatic pacing to literary projects.

Reid’s own career has already crossed that boundary. His novel I’m Thinking of Ending Things was adapted into a feature film directed by Charlie Kaufman, while Foe was adapted for the screen by filmmaker Garth Davis.

Those experiences have given Reid insight into how a story can change when it moves from the page to the screen. Working directly with Foumbi offers a different arrangement: instead of handing over a completed novel for adaptation, he is collaborating with a filmmaker throughout the development of the story.

For Foumbi, the partnership creates an opportunity to work with a writer whose approach to suspense and genre storytelling aligns with her own creative interests.

Their experience suggests that the relationship between literature and cinema can be more collaborative than a straightforward adaptation process, with each format contributing something distinct to the finished work.

Publication and what comes next

A New Kind of Clean is being published by Simon & Schuster Canada in October 2026. The project has also been positioned for publication in other markets, reflecting interest in the collaboration between the Canadian novelist and the filmmaker.

Beyond the book, the two creators continue to explore the story’s screen potential. The screenplay is being revisited in light of the novel’s development, allowing them to experiment with new elements and approaches.

Whether the film moves into production will depend on the progress of financing and the remaining production arrangements.

The partnership may also lead to further collaborations. Both artists have expressed interest in continuing to work together, having found the creative process rewarding.

For readers, A New Kind of Clean offers an opportunity to experience a story shaped by two different artistic disciplines. Its combination of psychological suspense, surrealism and questions about technology places it within a tradition of speculative fiction that uses unusual situations to examine recognisable human concerns.

The novel’s development also provides a reminder that some creative partnerships emerge not from carefully arranged business plans, but from a simple exchange between artists who recognise something compelling in each other’s work.