00:26This is Tim Wasprick for Fast Trek on CERC TV.
00:29I'm here in Austin, Texas for the South by Southwest Film Festival.
00:33The structure of this movie is very cool and unique, but it also is very character-based in the way
00:40that you build it.
00:42It has to be plot-driven, of course, but the way Mallory and Louise specifically function is really neat.
00:50Can you talk about starting as the writer, sort of dreaming up this world and how you wanted them to
00:56function within it?
00:57Yeah, thank you.
00:58It's a good question, and thanks for speaking with me.
01:02Yeah, the structure, I don't want to give too much away, but the structure really was a product of wanting
01:08to capture this feeling,
01:09okay, when you're jealous about someone or comparing yourself to someone,
01:14I noticed when that was happening to me, there was this sensation of almost being wiped out of my life.
01:22And this is where kind of my psychological mind comes in, because I'm also a psychotherapist and a mental health
01:27counselor.
01:28So looking at kind of like, okay, what is happening in that moment when you're comparing yourself to someone else?
01:32What happens to your sense of self in that setup?
01:37And so I wanted to kind of create the experience of Mallory, the main character, being wiped out of her
01:44life.
01:44And in doing that, that actually opens up the possibility of her having a journey that leads to her coming
01:50back to herself in a way that she couldn't do before,
01:54through her connection with Louise, through her seeing the truth in a different way,
01:59and through her kind of being on this journey that gets her out of her mind, her day-to-day
02:05life, her relationship with Sam.
02:07Like, she's kind of taken away from all of that in a way that lets her have a journey that,
02:11again, similar to my work as a therapist,
02:13you know, like, similar to the journey of healing that I think can often be very unpredictable, kind of surreal,
02:20take you on a, take you to a different dimension sometimes before you ultimately land back home in a way.
02:27Okay.
02:40Of course.
02:42And that's a spooky cave.
02:46Sam?
02:50Not going there.
02:54In the latter half of the movie, it becomes more metaphysical in that way in her perception of Louise.
02:59Obviously, I don't want to give you too much away, but there's so much to unpack with this film, of
03:03course.
03:03Yeah, I think the, the codependent, that's a good word, codependency.
03:08I think the way that I was exploring, exploring it in the film was, um, looking at the ways that
03:14we project our issues with ourselves onto our partner.
03:21I mean, make it a relationship problem when it's actually a, a problem that we're having with our, with ourselves.
03:29So I think in that way, it can be codependent because you're trying to solve a problem with the wrong
03:33source.
03:35Um, so for Mallory, she kind of, and not to say that her relationship is perfect.
03:40It's definitely not.
03:41It's very human.
03:42Um, but she has to kind of take a step back from the relationship to take responsibility for the ways,
03:48for the things that are driving her crazy.
03:51Um, and similar with Louise, I think, uh, Louise also in her friendship or relationship with Mallory is able to
04:00see in a different way.
04:01Um, the ways that she's maybe hiding or not being fulfilled in her relationship.
04:07So, yeah, there is this kind of pattern of having to kind of step away from a relationship in order
04:15to see that the relationship might not be the problem.
04:20Welcome.
04:22Florida.
04:23You're here.
04:24How lovely to see you, Sam.
04:26We didn't know you were here.
04:27The terrified creature over here is Mallory.
04:32Mallory.
04:36Well, how about that?
04:38Could you sort of talk about the idea of environment and how environment changes us?
04:44Because obviously later on, I don't want to give out way too much, but the environment changes her.
04:51Yes.
04:52Yeah.
04:52Maine.
04:53So the film takes place in, uh, on the coast of Maine and on, in this kind of beautiful retreat
04:58that they go to.
04:59And they're coming from the city where there's, um, a lot of activity and a lot of kind of chaos
05:04and Maine serves as this beacon of inspiration.
05:08So the movie is a lot about, about inspiration and the kind of two sides of the coin of, of
05:15comparison.
05:15Like if you're, if you're comparing yourself to someone else and this might be relevant, if you're, you know, if
05:20this is going out to particularly relevant, if you're going out to college, uh, students, I think that's a time
05:25in life where I know I was particularly riddled with comparison because of the environment that you're in.
05:31When you're looking around, you're looking around, people seem to know, have figured out this life stuff more than you
05:36have.
05:37And I think Mallory definitely, um, is feeling that she compares herself a lot to Louise and to Sam and
05:44they've reached a level of success and, and creative fulfillment that she hasn't.
05:49Um, so when they go to Maine, not only, she's in a way taken, taken out of that environment, but
05:56also has to confront it even more because there is no distraction.
05:59She's, it's just her and her mind.
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