BLOG POST BY RUTH MARAMIS
FlixChatter.net
We’re on a roll! Today we’ve got yet another insights into an indie film screening at TCFF. This time we’re featuring the writer of The Best People, Selina Ringel, a solid dramedy our reviewer calls ‘a must-see at TCFF.’ An emotional roller-coaster in the best possible way, it’s a story by and about women.
Just as she is recovering from a breakdown, Annas world is rocked when her younger sister gets engaged. She teams up with the alcoholic best man to break up the engagement; convinced they are trying to save her sister, his best friend, and themselves from a lifetime of misery.
Review by Holly Peterson
Make sure that The Best People is on your list of films to see at this year’s festival. Actors Anna Evelyn and Claire Donald play sisters – who weirdly both have the same first name as their characters – who wind up living together after their mother dies and Anna has a mental breakdown. The two could not be more different. Claire, the younger sister is an organized, accomplished woman in her early twenties. Anna, the older sister, can’t hold down a job, struggles to find the desire to get her life on track, and is probably an alcoholic. When Claire falls in love, Anna can’t handle it and the hijinks ensue.
Dramedies are not easy to pull off, but The Best People does it well. Characters struggle with substance abuse, death, jealousy, broken relationships, mental illness, and more; but the story arc is light enough that the comedic scenes (vagina yoga!) work as pallet cleansers.
Most of the performances in The Best People are solid, but Evelyn especially is a force throughout. From moments like the first scene, in which she gives a long expositional monologue that literally sets up the entire movie, to the tiny choices that she makes as a background character, Evelyn owns this movie. Her interpretation of a broken character with a thick shell and a tendency to lash out somehow still brings in the audience and effectively asks them to empathize with an unlikable character.
There are a lot of things to love in this movie. It is peppered with exactly the kind of manipulative sound design that we all expect in the genre. The incorporation of modern technology is perfect. And it’s a story by and about women.
If you are looking for something that can make you laugh, cry, and want to call your sister the moment you get out of the theater (or maybe you should just bring her with you!) this is the film for you. Jump on the emotional rollercoaster that is The Best People. You won’t regret it.
Q&A with writer Selina Ringel
Interview questions courtesy of Holly Peterson
What was the inspiration for this story?
I got married very young for LA ( actually to the director of this movie!) and had a few people in my life react in an interesting way. I wanted to delve into the point of view of a character who felt like they were loosing everything when their best friend (sister) gets married. I wanted to explore what it means to feel behind, how hard it is to watch someone you love become closer to someone else and how we come to accept ourselves where we are without judgement.
Why do all of the actors have the same name as their characters? How was the casting process since you also did casting for this film?
We actually cast people we had already worked with before. I wrote the script with these actors in mind so I was writing from their voice, not as the characters but as the voices of the actors who we cast.
What do you hope people take away from their viewing of The Best People?
I hope people laugh and cry, but also realize that we spend most of our lives pointing the finger at others for things that don’t go right in our lives, but most of the time we aren’t looking at the real issue which is usually us. We can only control how we react to things and ultimately, growth is realizing we have the capacity to be better versions of ourselves but it takes looking inward instead of pointing outward.
How has reception been so far?
Honestly it’s been amazing, we’ve had an incredible festival run, multiple full theatres, we won Best Comedy Feature at WorldFest Houston and was selected as the Closing Night movie for Dances with Films with a full 500 person seating at the famous Chinese theatre in Hollywood. We are excited to have Shoreline Entertainment as our sales agent for the film. I feel incredibly lucky and in awe of what can happen when you just decide to go for it, we are obviously also surrounded by incredibly talented people which made the film possible and a huge support system from our families and friends but it really takes a lot of work, time, determination and passion to get a movie made and the truth is you never know where its going to land. You wonder if it will be seen, well received, etc so this has a been a dream come true for us.
What are some highlights of creating this film, particularly for you as a writer?
One of the highlights for me was working side by side with my husband Dan Levy Dagerman who directed the film. He is such a smart, authentic director who really listens and gives the actors space to breathe and perform their best work. I think sitting by his side every day next to the monitor was a dream come true. He also would read all my pages and give me notes, we would talk through things, get obsessed together.
Another huge blessing was having such talented actors who helped the words come alive and on many occasions improv’d lines and made them better than what I wrote. I also think every crew member added so much to the production value and energy of the set. I really do joke with my husband that I’m not sure it gets better than this, although I hope it can always feel this beautiful and serendipitous!
TCFF Screening Dates:
Wednesday, October 24th, 2018 8:15 PM
Thanks so much Selina for chatting with FlixChatter!
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