00:00I know this story and this book has a lot of heavy themes in it.
00:06So what do you hope that audiences take away from seeing this film?
00:10I hope that anyone who has suffered through a reality like this
00:15might feel inspired to be able to ask for help.
00:19I also feel like friends of victims.
00:22I really love when Atlas hides his number in her phone.
00:25He doesn't force his help, but he offers his help.
00:30And he renders himself a safe place and a lifeline.
00:33And so I hope that this film also inspires people to do that for their friends as well.
00:38Was there any scene in particular that was challenging to work through?
00:43Yeah, you know, as a writer, probably the most difficult scene for me to crack was the rooftop scene.
00:50Because I have to say, Colleen wrote it perfectly.
00:53And I wish I could have just lifted it from the pages and just put it in the film.
00:57But it's a little too long for film language.
01:01And so my first crack at it, it was like a 10-page scene, which is a little impossible.
01:06So the question became, what do we keep?
01:10What do we shave off?
01:11There's a lot of heavy lifting in that scene.
01:14And I'm so proud to the performers for really, I mean, there's just a lot of things that have to happen in that scene.
01:20He's kicking over a chair all the way to, like, them starting to get a little intimate.
01:25And if you really look at the emotional beats of the scene, it's incredible how many layers there are.
01:30So on the page, it took a long time to get right.
01:32And then I have to say, like, Justin and Blake just killed it.
01:36Yeah.
01:37I know Blake also talked about not wanting to play Lily like a delicate flower.
01:42So how were you able to incorporate that into the writing?
01:47Well, there were a lot of conversations early on before we cast.
01:52Honestly, before we even were at Sony, it was supposed to be a really small indie movie at Wayfarer.
01:56And then Sony got involved later.
01:58Blake got cast and it snowballed from there.
02:00But we had a lot of conversations about aging the roles up a little bit.
02:04Because I wanted audiences who maybe have never been victims of abuse.
02:09I didn't want them to necessarily think that Lily is stuck in this relationship because she's young.
02:16It's like, oh, she's just young.
02:17She doesn't know how to draw boundaries yet.
02:19She doesn't know how to say no.
02:20It's like, no.
02:21What happens when you're a fully realized, grown woman?
02:25You have your own business.
02:26You know who you are.
02:27You're fun.
02:28You're funny.
02:28You're smart.
02:29But you're contending with a reality that feels familiar.
02:33And it is reminiscent of your childhood trauma.
02:36And that's the piece of your heart that you have yet to heal.
02:39And that's the journey of the film.
02:41Sure.
02:41And very quickly, I know some of the cast had talked about advice that they would give to their younger self.
02:46So I was curious to know, what is advice that you would give to your younger self about love and finding the right partner?
02:51I think you have to learn to love yourself first.
02:57If you're looking for someone else to justify your worth, I think that there's more work to do.
03:06It's really not until you love yourself, you date yourself, you buy yourself flowers, that you can really be at peace with yourself in silence for not just five minutes, but for a couple of hours.
03:20I feel like that's when you're ready to choose wisely and find a partner that is worthy of you.
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