Star film "The Break"« Zach Cherry plays Gary, a coward who's unsure of his love. He meets widow Elle, played by Maria Bakalova, known for her roles in «"Student"» и «"Borat: The Sequel"» . What could go wrong on their blind date in a small Canadian town? A lot, as the film reveals. «"The whole night is wrong"» , directed and produced by Canadian director Jason James ( «Confusion» , «Mountain People »), which will have its world premiere on Tuesday night as the main film at the SXSW festival in London.
Just look at this plot summary: "Two broken people meet on a blind date and mistakenly steal a car with $40,000 and a dead body in the trunk. With a killer stalking them and blood on their hands, they have one night to do all the wrong things—all for the right reasons.".
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Indeed, a dying wish and a mysterious clue lead this unlikely couple on a journey full of unexpected twists, bad decisions, awkward conversations, lies, arguments, secrets, betrayal, and a dangerous killer. Their neo-noir-style nighttime journey is also filled with laughter and touching moments.
The film also stars frequent James collaborator Tyler Labine ( Tucker & Dale vs. Evil , New Amsterdam ) and Emily Hampshire ( Schitt's Creek , The Rig ), and Ryan Bale. The screenplay was written by Jason Filiatrault ( The Order , Entanglement ).
Among the sponsors and partners of the project All Night Wrong includes James' Resonance Films, Telefilm Canada, Voltage Pictures, Mongrel Media, Goodbye Productions, Big Safari, Anamorphic Media, Creativity Capital, Creativity Media and Koala FX.
James describes movie "All Night Wrong"« as a mix of "stylish neo-noir thriller and indie romantic comedy.".
In a statement, the director said: "I'm tired of people like John Wick and Jason Bourne. I want to see a movie where an ordinary person—like you or me—has to rob a bank, defuse a bomb, or, in this case, bury a body found in the trunk of a stolen car, and uncover a plot to kill someone on a first date. It's so thrilling to watch real people do the wrong thing over and over again.".
THR spoke with James about his inspirations and the filmmaking process. «All Night Wrong »", about how he "went into vampire mode" on freezing Canadian nights, how he chose his two stars, why the film feels frozen in time, and why the SXSW premiere in London is special for him.
You've worked with writer Jason Filiatrault before, and you seem to enjoy exploring relationships. How does this film fit into your previous work?
I do a lot of romantic comedies. I love romantic comedies, and this script is a fantastic combination of neo-noir and independent romantic comedy. It's almost like two of my favorite movies in the world—"« North to northwest"» Alfred Hitchcock and «"Apartment"» Billy Wilder. Mix those two films and you get «"All night wrong"» . I feel like we're living in a time where all the stories have already been told, and now we have the opportunity to mix genres and combine different things to create something fresh, new, and exciting.
Another thing that attracted me to this film was that it's almost an anti-romantic comedy, in which this couple shouldn't be together. They come together for the wrong reasons, and eventually find an unexpected friendship, and through each other and this experience, each in their own way discovers what they need to move on in life. But this isn't a romantic film. It's not "they'll live happily ever after," but a film about how they'll live happily ever after in their own way.
The town itself feels like a character in the film. Can you tell us a little about it?
When you think about great film noirs, they also have a sense of place and an almost dreamlike quality, where the city itself is a character. I was really fascinated by the idea of a liminal space, and this city functions precisely as such because everything unfolds in a single night, the characters are trapped in this place, and you often see them alone.
I created this city as a kind of liminal space, focusing on certain places and the specifics of this place. This even extends to the music. There's terrible Canadian rock music from the 70s and 80s playing here, like a CD player stuck in a car, and this determines the emotional trajectory of these interludes and songs. The place is a little stuck in time, immersing itself in this damn strange atmosphere of small towns where bad things happen.
The film transports us from this strange, shabby lovers' motel to an industrial wilderness, where we take long walks and conversations along empty streets. All of this is interspersed with short scenes that showcase the oddities and eccentricities of small towns, with which we can interact.
And it all starts in a bar...
Gary is a bit of a coward, so he takes Elle to a bar in a rough neighborhood. There's no one there he knows or sees. That's where the story begins.
How did you cast the actors for the roles of Zach and Maria, who I was looking forward to seeing together on screen and whose characters demonstrate such an interesting dynamic in the film?
Actors are my favorite people. When you make independent films, the special effects in such films are the actors and their performances. They mean everything.
Zack was the first choice. I'm very attracted to sensitive people in this cruel, deceitful world, and I was looking for a guy with a beautiful, pure soul. And I like Zack in all his roles. I've seen him in Marvel movies and TV shows, for example, in "Heirs"« . And I've been following his career. He always excels in everything he does, and he's already starred in the first season. «"Break"» . I saw him in this role, contacted him, we talked a lot about the script and the role, and he agreed.
Then we were looking for a character for Elle and we wanted someone who would be the opposite of Zach, someone unpredictable, a little wild and exciting. I certainly saw Maria in in the film "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm"« , and she was simply amazing, indomitable, unpredictable, like a freight train. So I contacted Maria, we discussed the role, and she loved the material.
I just really enjoyed working with the two of them. Afterward, I always try to rewrite the script based on who these actors are at their core, and that's what we did. We got their notes on the script, I met with them, talked with them, and worked with the writer on another version of the script to make the material and the characters more realistic, based on their true selves.
Do you always strive to ensure that actors have real personal qualities?
Even when I'm casting for films, I always watch interviews with the actors, not their previous work. I just want to see who they really are and feel something more natural, sincere, and authentic.
Tyler and Emily add mystery and a creepy atmosphere to the film. «All Night Wrong» . How did you select the actors?
They're both good friends of mine and frequent collaborators. They've starred in most of my films, so I always enjoy working with them. I love it when the cast includes both newcomers and young talents, as well as people I've worked with many times before, with whom we have a rapport and can be confident they'll be great.
I adore Emily, she's an amazing actress and a real chameleon. In this film, she's completely different from her character in «Schitt's Creek» . In this film, she is dangerous and unpredictable, playing a mysterious, almost femme fatale.
He's also a bit of a chameleon...
It's a film where you don't quite understand who she is. As a director, when I read a script, I always think about perspective and how we come into the world, how we see it, and through whose eyes we see it.
Laura is a really fun character because I experimented a little bit with perspective in this film, so you see three different versions of Laura. When you first meet her, it's through [one character's] eyes. The second time, we see Laura through Elle's eyes, which feels more romantic. And Gary presents Laura as a darker, more mysterious figure, who, when we meet the real Laura, is a little more realistic and grounded.
Where exactly in Canada did you film the movie? «All Night Wrong» ? And was it really winter?
Yes, we shot last winter in the mountains [of the Columbia Valley region in British Columbia]. The film takes place in one night, so we had to go into full vampire mode and shoot every night for about a month. We started at 7 p.m. and shot until 7 a.m. every day for a month.
What were the conditions?
It was minus 10 degrees, and we were just on the cusp of winter and the approaching snowfall. So we just embraced the snow and made it part of the world. It enhances that feeling of cold, desert, and isolation, which I really enjoy.
What was the most challenging part of making the film?
It was a very dynamic film. There were a lot of car scenes and stunts. And it all took place in one evening, so working at night, the snow, the cold, and the huge amount of footage we had to shoot in a short time really exhausted the crew. So it was challenging in many ways.
Before I let you go, I'll tell you how great it would be to have a world premiere All Night Wrong songs as a headliner at the SXSW festival in London?
It's great that this is a British-Canadian co-production. We shot it in Canada, and a lot of the key crew members are Canadian, but we did all the post-production in London. So, last spring, I was in London, doing editing, sound, and color correction, shuttling between Vancouver, where I live, and London for six months.
It's so great to be back and screening the film in London. A lot of our cast and crew will be there. And I really love the films that are chosen for SXSW. They're a little bolder, a little funnier, a little more unusual, and for me, that aligns with the kind of films I want to make and am making. It's such a wonderful launching pad for the film.
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