A24 will release Chris Rock's "Misty Green," a $5 million Hollywood satire set in Santa Monica and Hollywood, in limited theaters on Friday, Oct. 9.

The comedy-drama is Rock's first film as director since "Top Five" in 2014. It premiered Saturday, Sept. 12, at the Toronto International Film Festival as a Gala Presentation. The R-rated film runs 1 hour and 44 minutes and stars British actress Rosalind Eleazar as a former TV star scrambling to revive a stalled career while facing eviction from a luxury Santa Monica apartment.

Rock told Variety in a Sept. 8 interview that the film grew from Los Angeles' contradictions. He pointed to Robertson Boulevard, where $30–$40 million homes sit in a real-estate window steps from a person sleeping on the sidewalk. "The movie is about that crazy dichotomy," he said.

The story follows one week in the life of Misty Green, a fictional actress who won a Supporting Actress Emmy for a cult thriller called "Red Eye" but whose career has since cratered. Key scenes play out at a beachfront apartment overlooking Santa Monica Beach and the nightclub at the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel. The film opens with shots of Los Angeles set to Sammy Davis Jr. singing "If You Could See Me Now."

Eleazar, best known for the Apple TV+ series "Slow Horses," flew herself from London to Los Angeles for chemistry tests with Rock after two Zoom auditions. She took singing lessons to prepare, including performing "One Night Only" from "Dreamgirls." She also developed her character's walk using the 5Rhythms movement practice.

The cast includes Daniel Kaluuya, Adam Driver, Anna Kendrick, Topher Grace, Rich Sommer, Amy Landecker and Anthony Anderson. Rock also acts in the film. Kaluuya plays Misty's bipolar brother Jay in what Variety Australia called his first screen performance in four years.

Rock told Variety he had to "beg" Kaluuya to join, in part because the budget was near scale. Driver, he said, had been calling him periodically since "Top Five" asking what he was working on.

The Wrap called Eleazar "an unstoppable force" and the film "very funny and pretty disturbing and quite entertaining." Variety Australia called it "the best movie about Hollywood in years." IndieWire gave it a B-.

Production companies are A24, Macro Film Studios and Confluential Films. The film will also screen at the BFI London Film Festival before its U.S. theatrical release.