Actor Keanu Reeves spent more than five years helping high school student Bianca Mitchell-Avila create a documentary film about chess. Bianca’s parents shared the story on Reddit on March 16.

The project idea emerged in 2020 after Bianca provided a comment for a New York Times article about the series “The Queen’s Gambit.” According to the girl’s parents, plenty of negative comments about women in chess appeared on social media, which prompted Bianca to create the film.

Keanu Reeves joined the project as an executive producer in 2021, after a conversation with Bianca. Her parents stated that the details of this conversation will become public after the film’s release, and described Keanu’s reaction:

Bianca Mitchell-Avila's parents

in a Reddit post

“With no connections in Hollywood and working from the kitchen table, she managed to present her vision to Keanu in 2021. It turned out that Keanu played chess! He was on the chess team in high school.

As soon as Keanu heard her idea, he really liked it, and he did everything possible to bring it to life!

We can’t say how she got it in front of Keanu yet. That story is wild and will be coming out soon!”

Famous female chess players, including Alexandra Botez and Jennifer Shahade, also participated in the project. The premiere of the film “Madwoman’s Game” will take place on April 16 at the Miami Film Festival.

Bianca Mitchell-Avila became widely popular in March 2026 after the announcement of the film’s release. In Keanu Reeves’ career, this film marks the second time he has participated in a project connected to the chess world. In 2016, Keanu narrated the short film “Anyone Can Quantum” featuring Stephen Hawking.