Dakota Johnson set to star in courtroom drama Unfit about forced sterilization

By Dailymail.com Reporter

Published: 21:54 EDT, 7 March 2017 | Updated: 23:37 EDT, 7 March 2017

Dakota Johnson is set to star in upcoming courtroom drama Unfit.

The 27-year-old Fifty Shades actress will also act as executive producer under her Silhouette Productions alongside producers Brett Ratner and John Cheng of RatPac Entertainment.

Dakota will play a woman in the 1920s who had to fight the American justice system to be allowed to become a mother at a time when it was legal in Virginia to sterilize 'undesirable' citizens.

Dakota Johnson will star in upcoming drama Unfit about forced sterilization in 1920s America

Dakota Johnson will star in upcoming drama Unfit about forced sterilization in 1920s America

The story is based on Adam Cohen’s book Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck.

According to Deadline, former litigation lawyer Melissa London Hilfers will be handling the script.

Amazon Studios won a multi-studio bidding war for the flick.

The official synopsis reads: 'In the not-so-distant past, America was gripped by a political movement that promised to eliminate the 'unfit' from our country.  

The actress will play a woman in 1920s America who had to fight the justice system to be allowed to become a mother at a time when it was legal in Virginia to sterilize 'undesirable' citizen

The actress will play a woman in 1920s America who had to fight the justice system to be allowed to become a mother at a time when it was legal in Virginia to sterilize 'undesirable' citizen

Carrie Buck (pictured left with her mother mother Emma) was a young Virginia woman who became a lightning rod for the movement that wanted to eliminate the 'unfit' from America

Carrie Buck (pictured left with her mother mother Emma) was a young Virginia woman who became a lightning rod for the movement that wanted to eliminate the 'unfit' from America

The story is based on Adam Cohen’s book Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck

The story is based on Adam Cohen’s book Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck

Unfit is the true story of Carrie Buck, a young Virginia woman who became a lightning rod for that movement, whose 1927 Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell legalized the sterilization of 'undesirable' citizens. 

'Buck was forced to fight against it singlehandedly for the one thing she desperately wanted: to be a mother.'

Dakota said in a statement: 'Like many, I was not privy to this shocking and fascinating moment in American history,

'I quickly became obsessed with the prospect of shedding light on the massive misstep in American justice. Carrie Buck’s story is poignant and galvanizing, and certain aspects are unnervingly congruent with the relationship between the government and women today. It is an important story that alongside RatPac and Amazon, I am honored and eager to tell.'

'Like many, I was not privy to this shocking and fascinating moment in American history' Dakota, 27, said of the story

'Like many, I was not privy to this shocking and fascinating moment in American history' Dakota, 27, said of the story

 

 

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