Malachi Kirby is now the face of "Uncle," the revenge thriller that was already shooting when its original lead ran into legal trouble.

The BAFTA-winning actor, known for "Small Axe" and the Disney+ series "A Thousand Blows," has stepped into the role previously held by Michael Ward, Variety reported in an exclusive. Ward, the "Top Boy" star, was accused of sexual assault in mid-2025 while "Uncle" was mid-production. He was recently cleared of all charges by a London court. The film went ahead with Kirby taking over the part.

Directed by Joe Marcantonio, the filmmaker behind "Kindred," and written by Marcantonio with Owynne Dawkins, "Uncle" has now wrapped shooting. WestEnd Films, handling world sales, has put out a first-look image of Kirby alongside newcomer Freya Harvey and has already locked in a first round of buyers: Sky in the U.K., NOS in Portugal, Beta in Bulgaria and Galapagos in Poland.

The story follows Millie, played by Harvey, a teenager pulled into her uncle John's mission to hunt down the people who murdered their family. John, played by Kirby, is a man running on guilt and rage, and the film tracks how far he'll go and how far he pulls Millie with him. Per the synopsis, she has to decide whether to follow him down what's described as a bloody path toward payback, one that doubles as a violent shortcut into adulthood.

Mark Lewis Jones ("The Last Jedi," "Baby Reindeer") and Gabrielle Creevy ("Black Doves") round out the cast, both BAFTA Cymru winners.

Behind the camera, Auroral Pictures' Rebecca Knapp and Matthew Wakeham produce alongside Delta Pictures' Adam Partridge. A long list of executive producers is attached too, including Nicola Pearcey, Play House Studios' Lorcan Kavanagh, Peggy Cafferty, Deepak Sikka, Mark Foligno and Sire Ramos, plus Principal Film Finance's Tom George and FilmHedge's Jon Gosier. Ffilm Cymru Wales backed the project, with funding routed through the Arts Council of Wales, Creative Wales, National Lottery money and the Welsh Government.

Maya Amsellem, managing director at WestEnd Films, called Marcantonio's work on the film intense and confident, and said the footage explores family, grief and cycles of violence while staying grounded. That footage screens for buyers this week at the Toronto International Film Festival, where WestEnd is expected to push for further territory sales beyond the four already locked in.

No release date or additional territories have been confirmed yet. With TIFF buyer meetings just getting underway, the next marker to watch is how many more markets "Uncle" picks up before it heads toward a wider rollout.