Searchlight Submits 'Your God Is Sleeping' From 'Behemoth!' for Oscars

Searchlight Pictures will submit "Your God Is Sleeping," the original song from Tony Gilroy's new drama "Behemoth!," for consideration in the Oscars' original song category, Variety has learned exclusively.

The song is written by singer and songwriter Lukas Frank, one of the film's nine composers collectively known as the Behemoth! Collective. "Behemoth!" stars Pedro Pascal as Alex Serian, a gifted musician and cellist who returns home to Los Angeles after 20 years on the road.

How did the song come about?

Frank described the unusual brief Gilroy gave him. "Tony told me he needed a song for a superhuman child prodigy—'like Björk meets Beethoven … except cooler.' Something like that … very easy, right?" Frank told Variety. "I ended up just trying to channel the music I loved when I was a young music nerd, building the song around the title, which was in Tony's script."

Gilroy, who wrote and directed the film, told Variety he has known Frank for almost a decade. "My correspondence with Lukas goes back to 2018, when he started sending me his early demos, and I was really into him because he was a studio drummer," Gilroy said.

What does Gilroy think of the result?

Gilroy has followed Frank's band Storefront Church closely. "I've had a ringside seat for the evolution of Storefront Church (Frank's band) and became a really big believer in it and what he's doing," Gilroy said. "Lukas' music always just grabs me — it's so unique."

When it came to the song, Gilroy offered Frank the chance to take a shot at it. His verdict on the final result was blunt: "He just killed it."

The songwriter and director also revealed that two versions of "Your God Is Sleeping" exist. One appears in the film itself; a second, special mix is being prepared for the soundtrack.

"There's the version of 'Your God Is Sleeping,' which is in the film, mixed in a certain way," Gilroy explained. "But then we did another mix for it for the soundtrack version — we did a radio mix. They brought in (producer) Dave Sardy and just pumped it, and man, it really pops."

When can audiences hear it?

"Behemoth!" premieres this Friday at the New York Film Festival and reaches theaters on Dec. 4. The Oscar submission sets up a campaign season in which "Your God Is Sleeping" will compete for a nomination in one of the Academy's most closely watched categories.