It can become harder to develop friendships as you grow older. For Emily and Alex, who recently moved from Seattle to Los Angeles with their young son R.J., they’re worried about their ability to make those new connections in an unfamiliar neighborhood. But when R.J. starts to play with another boy at the park, Emily and Alex are introduced to the boy’s enigmatic father, Kurt (Jason Schwartzman). The sleekly dressed, seemingly clichéd Angeleno opens with a joke about his son’s vegan diet before kindly offering recommendations of the best local shops and restaurants.

Kurt can’t resist himself though, there’s so much more to share, so he invites the newly relocated couple over for dinner that night with him and his wife. Emily (Orange Is The New Black’s Taylor Schilling) argues worst-case scenario is they’ll go home after a boring night and Alex (Adam Scott) worries the bottle of Two Buck Chuck they brought with them isn’t fancy enough; however, neither expects their overnight family playdate will test the couple’s openness, and the strength of Emily and Alex’s marital bond.

At the onset of The Overnight, Emily and Alex guide each other through their morning sex. They accommodate one another and exchange helpful instructions, but seem to have made “self-completion” a ritualistic finish. They’re a cooperative couple, even if they’re not perfectly compatible. Their collective anxiety is largely embodied by Adam Scott’s performance as Alex. Shades of Scott’s Parks and Recreation persona manifesting itself in Alex’s neurosis, particularly the character’s habit of impulsively lying in response to questions in order to respond “the right way.” Yes of course he paints with acrylics, who wouldn’t?

Alex is constantly on the back foot in Kurt’s house. Kurt comes on very strong, and from almost the moment that Emily and Alex arrive at Kurt’s house they’re deluged by his conversation. The Spanish lessons Kurt gives his kindergarten-aged son, the water filtration business he’s installing in third world countries, his pompous pronunciation of, “the South of France,” (as if France is pronounced with an ‘aw’). It’s a flood of superfluous character building that takes too long to work through, even with a helping of chuckle-worthy line readings.

For most of The Overnight (which only runs 80 minutes long) we’re waiting for the movie to get to its point. The dynamics of the “family playdate” become increasingly bizarre, but when the alcohol begins to work as a conversational lubricant (as it’s wont to do) the couples’ conversation starts to explore ideas of openness and honesty. Most of the talk steers sexual and you wonder when someone will finally say the word, “swinger,” but there exists a frank and humorous honesty in the characters’ words. When a vulnerable Alex admits to his size-related body issues, it’s uncomfortably funny but oddly touching, seeing new friends bond through understanding.

Taylor Schilling’s Emily appears to be the more self-assured half of the primary pairing. She’s the primary breadwinner for the family and retains more self-control once the adults have worked their way through a couple bottles of red wine. She’s not the butt of nearly as many jokes as her fictional husband, but Taylor Schilling gives Emily a cool, loving energy that makes her performance fun to watch while maintaining a complexity to her character. The Overnight makes it clear that Emily and Alex are very understanding to each other, and refreshingly, they take the time to consult one another throughout the film. The dilemmas here don’t emerge from clichéd bickering, they stem from the complications of a strong couple that are open to each other’s desires.

The instigator for most of the film’s hijinks is Schwartzman’s Kurt, and the potential to enjoy the comedy relies largely on his performance (as well as a tolerance for penis humor). The talkative character Kurt proceeds through the night brazenly dictating the couples’ agenda. It can be hilarious, as he is when confidently strutting naked around the pool, but other times it registers as awkward and unmotivated, like when he shows Emily and Alex a mildly pornographic movie of his wife Charlotte (Judith Godrèche). Schwartzman has an ability to remain charming even as an irritating character, and for the most part, Kurt is mysterious enough to stay intriguing.

The wild night created by The Overnight’s writer/director Patrick Brice (director of SXSW film Creep, also produced by the Duplass Brothers) does uniquely capture the contagious nature of a fun night around people you love. Even as his film plays dumb with its premise a little too much, it’s forgivable within the context of the intoxicating night Emily and Alex share with Charlotte and Kurt. They’re having too much fun exploring their boundaries honestly, and it’s usually entertaining enough to keep watching them.

The Overnight could easily be faulted for its couple of questionable turns, the directness with which the ending lays all the cards out on the table, or the film’s liberal use of prosthetic penises (which might have been the centerpiece in an Apatow or McKay comedy, so kudos to The Overnight). The movie mostly makes up for it by developing a compelling situation, and facilitating charismatic performances from Scott, Schilling and Schwartzman. The Overnight is a sexually adventurous, occasionally uncomfortable comedy with an outrageous ending, but one that feels like the proper result of its story.

A version of this review first appeared as part of our Tribeca 2015 coverage. 

Patrick Brice’s titillating new comedy The Overnight comes with a fair share of notable names attached to the project. The film is executive produced by indie darling Mark Duplass, it’s the first feature released by Adam Scott and his wife’s production company’s Gettin’ Rad Productions, and it stars Jason Schwartzman as well as Orange Is The New Black‘s Taylor Schilling. Brice’s film explores a hilarious situation involving a pair of parents to young children arranging an “overnight family playdate” at their home that turns into a sexual exploration; however, The Overnight is only the second narrative piece made by the filmmaker.

Sitting down with Way Too Indie, Patrick Brice discusses his senior thesis documentary on Paris’ last 35MM porn theater, producing his first feature Creep with only Mark Duplass and a camera, as well as the transition into working with a full crew for The Overnight.

Are these premieres exciting for you?
Yeah, they’re very exciting.

It’s good to see it with a crowd?
Oh yeah, it’s the best. When I first wanted to become a filmmaker I never thought I’d make movies where it would be contingent on crowd noise and crowd reaction. I go see my friends’ films that are dramas, and you don’t hear anything at all throughout the movie, so it’s fun to watch this movie with an audience for sure.

Did you want to be a more serious filmmaker? Not to disparage this film.
Yeah, yeah. You mean, make movies with a more serious subject matter?

Just making movies that are more dramatic.
It’s funny. I’m not interested in one particular genre. Both movies I’ve made have been these kind of genre hybrids. That’s just a result of me navigating these stories and deciding what feels right in any given moment. Whether it’s a darker moment or something that’s lighter.

So I was going to ask what it’s like directing prosthetic penises.
[laughs] It’s the best! I mean, it’s hard to do. Everyone is giggling the whole time so it’s this ridiculous, fun—it doesn’t feel like work basically. At all.

I can imagine the diving underwater being hysterical on set, a little tricky to give direction for, but it’s a really funny moment.
For sure. And we couldn’t keep them in the water for that long. They’re made of this sponge-like material, so they actually absorb water. Jason’s was… [Patrick makes hand motions].

It expands more?
Yeah [laughs], it was a bad thing.

What was the initial inspiration for The Overnight?
Mark Duplass and I had worked together on this film Creep, and we were just trying to think of another small project to work on together, he said he would produce a script if I wrote it and I was thinking a lot about what I can do with a small amount of money essentially. An idea of having the film set in one house, and having only four actors. Then reverse engineering it from there in terms of how do you make a single-location space dynamic? I had made a documentary when I graduated from Cal Arts, and my thesis film was about the last porn theater in Paris that still plays 35MM film. So sex has kind of been on the mind for sure.

I was thinking about movies like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and After Hours and these movies that take place in 24 hours, so [I] ultimately decided it would be this film about this foursome. Then it was once again reverse engineering it from there and thinking about how I can create a situation where it’s actually believable that these characters would get to the point that they do.

Do you get excited by that reverse engineering process?
Well it’s all I’ve known so far. I’ve only known working within constraints because I’ve only had a certain amount of money for each of my projects. For Creep we had basically no money because we had no crew. The whole movie was just me, Mark and a video camera.

So then with this movie I knew I was going to have a small amount of crew, and even just having the people around me that I did felt like a luxury because I had this other experience where I had no one. It’s been a great way to ease myself into making stuff, because I recognize each new tool that comes in and find that I’m able to use it consciously more. Actually having a relation with your gaffer, you know? I don’t know if that’s a result of the way that things have gone so far or that’s just my weird way of working but that’s the way it’s gone.

What kind of benefit do you get from having Mark Duplass on as a producer?
I wouldn’t have been able to get all these actors if it weren’t for him, and if it weren’t for his reputation. He was kind of like a godfather figure of this show. We knew that Adam & Naomi had started Gettin’ Rad Productions, their production company, and that Naomi was wanting to produce features. So it was really great bringing those guys in because we kind of had this package of this amazing actor with Adam, and then Naomi who’s one of the best professional relationships I’ve had in my life. She’s just an amazing producer.

It’s been a great relationship working with Mark because he’s not only been someone who’s sort of helped guide me through this world, but he’s also someone who appreciates my sense of humor. To have someone who not only is kind of your boss but also gets you and appreciates you, that’s priceless.

How’d you first end up developing a relationship with Mark?
We have mutual friends. I’m good friends with Adele Romanski, she’s a producer. She produced The Myth of the American Sleepover and a couple other movies. She produced Mark’s wife’s two films The Freebie and Black Rock so it was just through moving to Los Angeles and meeting them. I was still in school, I was in Cal Arts when I met Mark. We had just met for coffee a couple times, you know. Kind of discussing—there are just so many ways your career path can go in terms of film, so it was an organic relationship.

Like you said, you’re expanding the scope in terms of this production. Were there any obstacles to incorporating all these new elements as a filmmaker?
I don’t think I ever felt obstacles with it. I’m a pretty open guy. I’m fairly egoless, so I would go to each new person that I’d be working with that I hadn’t worked with. I hadn’t even made a short before, I had primarily done documentary stuff, and then I made this odd found footage hybrid experiment thing with Mark. For me it was a chance to really understand all of these roles and just try to elevate everyone in their own way. I never pretended to know something I didn’t know. I was with enough people who had enough experience that when there were moments when I felt like I wasn’t the authority, they would step in. I see the role of the director as guiding the energy of a shoot. Obviously I wanted to protect and guide the story for sure. Because I had such smart, conscious collaborators that’s why I was able to make this movie in the way that we did.

How structured was your script?
This was a full, detailed — it was totally scripted.

So it’s not like some of the highly improvised Duplass-produced movies?
No, I had done that. Creep was totally improvised, that was just a 10-page outline, but The Overnight had a full script. Which was great to have that as our sort of anchor, and then people ask if there’s improv in the movie, and there is, but it’s almost peppered within the lines. It was really just trying to create an environment where the actors felt free. Free to play, but we already had a nice guide there for us.

Does that mean like fun run type of stuff, or loose last takes?
We did that a couple times but for the most part it was just someone would say a line in the middle of another line that worked, or there was a reaction that was unexpected or something like that. Going into this we wanted to play it real as much as possible, so we wanted it to feel as natural as possible. I think with some actors that might be kind of scary to say you can play. A lot of people need that sort of structure, but these guys were game.

What’s the next step for you? The film comes out in June, so are you doing mostly press or have you started a new project?
Yeah, I’m writing right now. I’m writing the next project but in between that, the next two months are going to be really crazy. We’re playing a bunch of different film festival: San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago Critics Festival. Then we’re going to be doing New York and L.A. premieres for the movie so it’s going to be a lot of distraction from writing. I’m looking forward to getting back into the “putting on sweatpants and taking my dog on a walk.”

You prefer that aspect?
Yeah, for sure. But this is fun, too, obviously.

The folks over in Park City have just unveiled their lineup for the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, which kicks off the festival season every year in January. With 118 films announced in their lineup, and even more to come over the next couple weeks, there’s a lot of digging to do. Some of the notable standouts so far include: “mumblecore” pioneer Andrew Bujalski’s (Computer Chess) new film Results (starring Guy Pearce, Cobie Smulders and Giovanni Ribisi), Patrick Brice following up this year’s Creep with The Overnight (starring Adam Scott and Jason Schwartzman), Kris Swanberg‘s new film Unexpected, and Compliance director Craig Zobel‘s Z for Zachariah, all of which will compete in the U.S. Dramatic category of the festival. The festival continues to premiere some of the hottest indie titles every year, so check out the entire list below!

The 2015 Sundance Film Festival will take place from Jan 22 – Feb 1.

2015 Sundance Film Festival Lineup

U.S. Dramatic Competition

“Advantageous” (Director: Jennifer Phang, Screenwriters: Jacqueline Kim, Jennifer Phang) — In a near-future city where soaring opulence overshadows economic hardship, Gwen and her daughter, Jules, do all they can to hold on to their joy, despite the instability surfacing in their world. Cast: Jacqueline Kim, James Urbaniak, Freya Adams, Ken Jeong, Jennifer Ehle, Samantha Kim.

“The Bronze” (Director: Bryan Buckley, Screenwriters: Melissa Rauch, Winston Rauch) — In 2004, Hope Ann Greggory became an American hero after winning the bronze medal for the women’s gymnastics team. Today, she’s still living in her small hometown, washed-up and embittered. Stuck in the past, Hope must reassess her life when a promising young gymnast threatens her local celebrity status. Cast: Melissa Rauch, Gary Cole, Thomas Middleditch, Sebastian Stan, Haley Lu Richardson, Cecily Strong. (Day One)

“The D Train” (Directors and screenwriters: Jarrad Paul, Andrew Mogel) — With his 20th reunion looming, Dan can’t shake his high-school insecurities. In a misguided mission to prove he’s changed, Dan rekindles a friendship with the popular guy from his class and is left scrambling to protect more than just his reputation when a wild night takes an unexpected turn. Cast: Jack Black, James Marsden, Kathryn Hahn, Jeffrey Tambor, Mike White, Kyle Bornheimer. 

“The Diary of a Teenage Girl” (Director and screenwriter: Marielle Heller) — Minnie Goetze is a 15-year-old aspiring comic-book artist, coming of age in the haze of the 1970s in San Francisco. Insatiably curious about the world around her, Minnie is a pretty typical teenage girl. Oh, except that she’s sleeping with her mother’s boyfriend. Cast: Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgard, Christopher Meloni, Kristen Wiig.

“Dope” (Director and screenwriter: Rick Famuyiwa) — Malcolm is carefully surviving life in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college applications, academic interviews, and the SAT. A chance invitation to an underground party leads him into an adventure that could allow him to go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being himself. Cast: Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Blake Anderson, Zoe Kravitz, ASAP Rocky.

“I Smile Back” (Director: Adam Salky, Screenwriters: Amy Koppelman, Paige Dylan) — All is not right in suburbia. Laney Brooks, a wife and mother on the edge, has stopped taking her meds, substituting recreational drugs and the wrong men. With the destruction of her family looming, Laney makes a last, desperate attempt at redemption. Cast: Sarah Silverman, Josh Charles, Thomas Sadoski, Mia Barron, Terry Kinney, Chris Sarandon.

“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” (Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Screenwriter: Jesse Andrews) — Greg is coasting through senior year of high school as anonymously as possible, avoiding social interactions like the plague while secretly making spirited, bizarre films with Earl, his only friend. But both his anonymity and friendship threaten to unravel when his mother forces him to befriend a classmate with leukemia. Cast: Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Olivia Cooke, Nick Offerman, Connie Britton, Molly Shannon.

“The Overnight” (Director and screenwriter: Patrick Brice) — Alex, Emily, and their son, RJ, are new to Los Angeles. A chance meeting at the park introduces them to the mysterious Kurt, Charlotte and Max. A family “playdate” becomes increasingly interesting as the night goes on. Cast: Adam Scott, Taylor Schilling, Jason Schwartzman, Judith Godreche.

“People, Places, Things” (Director and screenwriter: James C. Strouse) — Will Henry is a newly single graphic novelist balancing being a parent to his young twin daughters and teaching a classroom full of college students, all the while trying to navigate the rich complexities of new love and letting go of the woman who left him. Cast: Jemaine Clement, Regina Hall, Stephanie Allynne, Jessica Williams, Gia Gadsby, Aundrea Gadsby.

“Results” (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Bujalski) — Two mismatched personal trainers’ lives are upended by the actions of a new, wealthy client. Cast: Guy Pearce, Cobie Smulders, Kevin Corrigan, Giovanni Ribisi, Anthony Michael Hall, Brooklyn Decker.

“Songs My Brothers Taught Me” (Director and screenwriter: Chloe Zhao) — This complex portrait of modern-day life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation explores the bond between a brother and his younger sister, who find themselves on separate paths to rediscovering the meaning of home. Cast: John Reddy, Jashaun St. John, Irene Bedard, Taysha Fuller, Travis Lone Hill, Eleonore Hendricks.

“The Stanford Prison Experiment” (Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Screenwriter: Tim Talbott)— This film is based on the actual events that took place in 1971 when Stanford professor Dr. Philip Zimbardo created what became one of the most shocking and famous social experiments of all time. Cast: Billy Crudup, Ezra Miller, Michael Angarano, Tye Sheridan, Johnny Simmons, Olivia Thirlby.

“Stockholm, Pennsylvania” (Director and screenwriter: Nikole Beckwith — A young woman is returned home to her biological parents after living with her abductor for 17 years. Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Cynthia Nixon, Jason Isaacs, David Warshofsky.

“Unexpected” (Director: Kris Swanberg, Screenwriters: Kris Swanberg, Megan Mercier) — When Samantha Abbott begins her final semester teaching science at a Chicago high school, she faces some unexpected news: She’s pregnant. Soon after, Samantha learns that one of her favorite students, Jasmine, has landed in a similar situation. “Unexpected” follows the two women as they embark on an unlikely friendship. Cast: Cobie Smulders, Anders Holm, Gail Bean, Elizabeth McGovern.

“The Witch” (U.S.-Canada) (Director and screenwriter: Robert Eggers) — New England in the 1630s: William and Katherine lead a devout Christian life with five children, homesteading on the edge of an impassable wilderness. When their newborn son vanishes and crops fail, the family turns on one another. Beyond their worst fears, a supernatural evil lurks in the nearby wood. Cast: Anya Taylor Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Lucas Dawson, Ellie Grainger.

“Z for Zachariah” (Director: Craig Zobel, Screenwriter: Nissar Modi) — In a post-apocalyptic world, a young woman who believes she is the last human on Earth meets a dying scientist searching for survivors. Their relationship becomes tenuous when another survivor appears. As the two men compete for the woman’s affection, their primal urges begin to reveal their true nature. Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Margot Robbie, Chris Pine.

U.S. Documentary Competition

“3 1/2 Minutes” (Director: Marc Silver) — On Nov. 23, 2012, unarmed 17-year-old Jordan Russell Davis was shot at a Jacksonville gas station by Michael David Dunn. “3½ Minutes” explores the aftermath of Jordan’s tragic death, the latent and often unseen effects of racism, and the contradictions of the American criminal justice system.

“Being Evel” (Director: Daniel Junge) — An unprecedented, candid portrait of American icon Robert “Evel” Knievel and his legacy.

“Best of Enemies” (Directors: Morgan Neville, Robert Gordon) — A behind-the-scenes account of the explosive 1968 televised debates between the liberal Gore Vidal and the conservative William F. Buckley Jr., and their rancorous disagreements about politics, God, and sex.

“Call Me Lucky” (Director: Bobcat Goldthwait) — Barry Crimmins was a volatile but brilliant bar comic who became an honored peace activist and influential political satirist. Famous comedians and others build a picture of a man who underwent an incredible transformation.

“Cartel Land” (Director: Matthew Heineman) — In this classic Western set in the 21st century, vigilantes on both sides of the border fight the vicious Mexican drug cartels. With unprecedented access, this character-driven film provokes deep questions about lawlessness, the breakdown of order, and whether citizens should fight violence with violence.

“City of Gold” (Director: Laura Gabbert) — Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Jonathan Gold casts his light upon a vibrant and growing cultural movement in which he plays the dual roles of high-low priest and culinary geographer of his beloved Los Angeles.

“Finders Keepers” (Directors: Bryan Carberry, Clay Tweel) — Recovering addict and amputee John Wood finds himself in a stranger-than-fiction battle to reclaim his mummified leg from Southern entrepreneur Shannon Whisnant, who found it in a grill he bought at an auction and believes it to therefore be his rightful property.

“Hot Girls Wanted” (Directors: Jill Bauer, Ronna Gradus) — A first-ever look at the realities inside the world of the amateur porn industry and the steady stream of 18- and 19-year-old girls entering into it.

“How to Dance in Ohio” (Director: Alexandra Shiva) — In Columbus, Ohio, a group of teenagers and young adults on the autism spectrum prepare for an iconic American rite of passage — a spring formal. They spend 12 weeks practicing their social skills at a local nightclub in preparation for the dance.

“Larry Kramer in Love and Anger” (Director: Jean Carlomusto) — Author, activist, and playwright Larry Kramer is one of the most important and controversial figures in contemporary gay America, a political firebrand who gave voice to the outrage and grief that inspired gay men and lesbians to fight for their lives. At 78, this complicated man still commands our attention.

“Meru” (Directors: Jimmy Chin, E. Chai Vasarhelyi) — Three elite mountain climbers sacrifice everything but their friendship as they struggle through heartbreaking loss and nature’s harshest elements to attempt the never-before-completed Shark’s Fin on Mount Meru, the most coveted first ascent in the dangerous game of Himalayan big wall climbing.

“Racing Extinction” (Director: Louie Psihoyos) — Academy Award winner Louie Psihoyos (“The Cove”) assembles a unique team to show the world never-before-seen images that expose issues surrounding endangered species and mass extinction.

“(T)error” (Directors: Lyric R. Cabral, David Felix Sutcliffe) — The first film to document oncamera a covert counterterrorism sting as it unfolds. Through the perspective of *******, a 63-year-old Black revolutionary turned FBI informant, viewers are given an unprecedented glimpse of the government’s counterterrorism tactics, and the murky justifications behind them.

“Welcome to Leith” (Directors: Michael Beach Nichols, Christopher K. Walker) — A white supremacist attempts to take over a small town in North Dakota.

“Western” (U.S.-Mexico) (Directors: Bill Ross, Turner Ross) — For generations, all that distinguished Eagle Pass, Texas, from Piedras Negras, Mexico, was the Rio Grande. But when darkness descends upon these harmonious border towns, a cowboy and lawman face a new reality that threatens their way of life. Western portrays timeless American figures in the grip of unforgiving change.

“The Wolfpack” (Director: Crystal Moselle) — Six bright teenage brothers have spent their entire lives locked away from society in a Manhattan housing project. All they know of the outside is gleaned from the movies they watch obsessively (and recreate meticulously). Yet as adolescence looms, they dream of escape, ever more urgently, into the beckoning world.

World Cinema Dramatic Competition

“Chlorine” (Italy) (Director: Lamberto Sanfelice, Screenwriters: Lamberto Sanfelice, Elisa Amoruso) — Jenny, 17, dreams of becoming a synchronized swimmer. Family events turn her life upside down and she is forced move to a remote area to look after her ill father and younger brother. It won’t be long before Jenny starts pursuing her dreams again. Cast: Sara Serraiocco, Ivan Franek, Giorgio Colangeli, Anatol Sassi, Piera Degli Esposti, Andrea Vergoni.

“Chorus” (Canada) (Director and screenwriter: Francois Delisle) ­— A separated couple meet again after 10 years when the body of their missing son is found. Amid the guilt of losing a loved one, they hesitantly move toward affirmation of life, acceptance of death, and even the possibility of reconciliation. Cast: Sebastien Ricard, Fanny Mallette, Pierre Curzi, Genevieve Bujold.

“Glassland” (Ireland) (Director and screenwriter: Gerard Barrett) — In a desperate attempt to reunite his broken family, a young taxi driver becomes entangled in the criminal underworld. Cast: Jack Reynor, Toni Collette, Will Poulter, Michael Smiley. (International premiere)

“Homesick” (Norway) (Director: Anne Sewitsky, Screenwriters: Ragnhild Tronvoll, Anne Sewitsky) — When Charlotte, 27, meets her brother Henrik, 35, for the first time, two people who don’t know what a normal family is begin an encounter without boundaries. How does sibling love manifest itself if you have never experienced it before? Cast: Ine Marie Wilmann, Simon J. Berger, Anneke von der Lippe, Silje Storstein, Oddgeir Thune, Kari Onstad.

“Ivy” (Turkey) (Director and screenwriter: Tolga Karacelik) — Sarmasik is sailing to Egypt when the ship’s owner goes bankrupt. The crew learns there is a lien on the ship, and key crew members must stay on board. Ivy is the story of these six men trapped on the ship for days. Cast: Nadir Sarıbacak, Ozgur Emre Yıldırım, Hakan Karsak, Kadir Cermik, Osman Alkaş, Seyithan Ozdemiroglu.

“Partisan” (Australia) (Director: Ariel Kleiman, Screenwriters: Ariel Kleiman, Sarah Cyngler)— Alexander is like any other kid: playful, curious and naive. He is also a trained assassin. Raised in a hidden paradise, Alexander has grown up seeing the world filtered through his father, Gregori. As Alexander begins to think for himself, creeping fears take shape, and Gregori’s idyllic world unravels. Cast: Vincent Cassel, Jeremy Chabriel, Florence Mezzara.

“Princess” (Israel) (Director and screenwriter: Tali Shalom Ezer) — While her mother is away from home, 12-year-old Adar’s role-playing games with her stepfather move into dangerous territory. Seeking an escape, Adar finds Alan, an ethereal boy that accompanies her on a dark journey between reality and fantasy. Cast: Keren Mor, Shira Haas, Ori Pfeffer, Adar Zohar Hanetz. (International premiere)

“The Second Mother” (Brazil) (Director and screenwriter: Anna Muylaert) — Having left her daughter, Jessica, to be raised by relatives in the north of Brazil, Val works as a loving nanny in São Paulo. When Jessica arrives for a visit 13 years later, she confronts her mother’s slave-like attitude and everyone in the house is affected by her unexpected behavior. Cast: Regina Case, Michel Joelsas, Camila Mardila, Karine Teles, Lourenço Mutarelli.

“Slow West” (New Zealand) (Director: John Maclean, Screenwriters: John Maclean, Michael Lesslie) — At the end of the 19th century, 16-year-old Jay Cavendish journeys across the American frontier in search of the woman he loves. He is joined by Silas, a mysterious traveler, and hotly pursued by an outlaw along the way. Cast: Michael Fassbender, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Rory McCann, Ben Mendelsohn, Brooke Williams, Caren Pistorius.

“Strangerland” (Australia-Ireland) (Director: Kim Farrant, Screenwriters: Fiona Seres, Michael Kinirons) — When Catherine and Matthew Parker’s two teenage kids disappear into the remote Australian desert, the couple’s relationship is pushed to the brink as they confront the mystery of their children’s fate. Cast: Nicole Kidman, Joseph Fiennes, Hugo Weaving, Lisa Flanagan, Meyne Wyatt, Maddison Brown.

“The Summer of Sangaile” (Lithuania-France-Holland) (Director and screenwriter: Alante Kavaite) — Seventeen-year-old Sangaile is fascinated by stunt planes. She meets a girl her age at the summer aeronautical show, nearby her parents’ lakeside villa. Sangaile allows Auste to discover her most intimate secret and in the process finds in her teenage love, the only person that truly encourages her to fly. Cast: Julija Steponaityte, Aiste Dirziute. (Day One film)

“Umrika” (India) (Director and screenwriter: Prashant Nair) — When a young village boy discovers that his brother, long believed to be in America, has actually gone missing, he begins to invent letters on his behalf to save their mother from heartbreak, all the while searching for him. Cast: Suraj Sharma, Tony Revolori, Smita Tambe, Adil Hussain, Rajesh Tailang, Prateik Babbar.

World Cinema Documentary Competition

“The Amina Profile” (Canada) (Director: Sophie Deraspe) — During the Arab revolution, a love story between two women — a Canadian and a Syrian American — turns into an international sociopolitical thriller spotlighting media excesses and the thin line between truth and falsehood on the Internet.

“Censored Voices” (Israel-Germany) (Director: Mor Loushy) — One week after the 1967 Six-Day War, renowned author Amos Oz and editor Avraham Shapira recorded intimate conversations with soldiers returning from the battlefield. The Israeli army censored the recordings, allowing only a fragment of the conversations to be published. “Censored Voices” reveals these recordings for the first time.

“The Chinese Mayor” (China) (Director: Hao Zhou) — Mayor Geng Yanbo is determined to transform the coal-mining center of Datong, in China’s Shanxi province, into a tourism haven showcasing clean energy. In order to achieve that, however, he has to relocate 500,000 residences to make way for the restoration of the ancient city.

“Chuck Norris vs. Communism” (U.K.-Romania-Germany) (Director: Ilinca Calugareanu) — In 1980s Romania, thousands of Western films smashed through the Iron Curtain, opening a window to the free world for those who dared to look. A black-market VHS racketeer and courageous female translator brought the magic of film to the masses and sowed the seeds of a revolution.

“Dark Horse” (U.K.) (Director: Louise Osmond) — Dark Horse is the inspirational true story of a group of friends from a workingman’s club who decide to take on the elite “sport of kings” and breed themselves a racehorse.

“Dreamcatcher” (U.K.) (Director: Kim Longinotto) — “Dreamcatcher” takes us into a hidden world seen through the eyes of one of its survivors, Brenda Myers-Powell. A former teenage prostitute, Brenda defied the odds to become a powerful advocate for change in her community. With warmth and humor, Brenda gives hope to those who have none.

“How to Change the World” (U.K.-Canada) (Director: Jerry Rothwell) — In 1971, a group of friends sails into a nuclear test zone, and their protest captures the world’s imagination. Using rare, archival footage that brings their extraordinary world to life, How to Change the World is the story of the pioneers who founded Greenpeace and defined the modern green movement. (Day One film)

“Listen to Me Marlon” (U.K.) (Director and screenwriter: Stevan Riley, Co-writer: Peter Ettedgui) — With exclusive access to previously unheard audio archives, this documentary charts Marlon Brando’s exceptional career and extraordinary life away from the stage and screen, fully exploring the complexities of the man by telling the story uniquely in his own voice.

“Pervert Park” (Sweden-Denmark) (Directors: Frida Barkfors, Lasse Barkfors) — “Pervert Park” follows the everyday lives of sex offenders in a Florida trailer park as they struggle to reintegrate into society, and try to understand who they are and how to break the cycle of sex crimes being committed. (International premiere)

“The Russian Woodpecker” (U.K.) (Director: Chad Gracia) — A Ukrainian victim of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster discovers a dark secret and must decide whether to risk his life by revealing it, amid growing clouds of revolution and war.

“Sembene!” (U.S.-Senegal) (Directors: Samba Gadjigo, Jason Silverman) — In 1952, Ousmane Sembene, a Senegalese dockworker and fifth-grade dropout, began dreaming an impossible dream: to become the storyteller for a new Africa. This true story celebrates how the “father of African cinema,” against enormous odds, fought a monumental, 50-year-long battle to give Africans a voice.

“The Visit” (Denmark-Austria-Ireland-Finland-Norway) (Director: Michael Madsen) — “This film documents an event that has never taken place … ” With unprecedented access to the United Nations’ Office for Outer Space Affairs, leading space scientists and space agencies, “The Visit” explores humans’ first encounter with alien intelligent life and thereby humanity itself. “Our scenario begins with the arrival. Your arrival.”

NEXT

“Bob and the Trees” (U.S.-France) (Director: Diego Ongaro, Screenwriters: Diego Ongaro, Courtney Maum, Sasha Statman-Weil) — Bob, a 50-year-old logger in rural Massachusetts with a soft spot for golf and gangsta rap, is struggling to make ends meet in a changed economy. When his beloved cow is wounded and a job goes awry, Bob begins to heed the instincts of his ever-darkening self. Cast: Bob Tarasuk, Matt Gallagher, Polly MacIntyre, Winthrop Barrett, Nathaniel Gregory. World Premiere

“Christmas, Again” (Director and screenwriter: Charles Poekel) — A heartbroken Christmas tree salesman returns to New York, hoping to put the past year behind him. He spends the season living in a trailer and working the night shift, until a mysterious woman and some colorful customers rescue him from self-destruction. Cast: Kentucker Audley, Hannah Gross, Jason Shelton, Oona Roche. (North American premiere)

“Cronies” (Director and screenwriter: Michael Larnell) — Twenty-two-year-old Louis doesn’t know whether his childhood friendship with Jack will last beyond today. Cast: George Sample III, Zurich Buckner, Brian Kowalski.

“Entertainment” (Director: Rick Alverson, Screenwriters: Rick Alverson, Gregg Turkington, Tim Heidecker) — En route to meeting with his estranged daughter, in an attempt to revive his dwindling career, a broken, aging comedian plays a string of dead-end shows in the Mojave Desert. Cast: Gregg Turkington, John C. Reilly, Tye Sheridan, Michael Cera, Amy Seimetz, Lotte Verbeek.

“H.” (U.S.-Argentina) (Directors and screenwriters: Rania Attieh, Daniel Garcia) — Two women, each named Helen, find their lives spinning out of control after a meteor allegedly explodes over their city of Troy, New York. Cast: Robin Bartlett, Rebecca Dayan, Will Janowitz, Julian Gamble, Roger Robinson.

“James White” (Director and screenwriter: Josh Mond) — A young New Yorker struggles to take control of his reckless, self-destructive behavior in the face of momentous family challenges. Cast: Chris Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott Mescudi, Makenzie Leigh, David Call.

“Nasty Baby” (Director and screenwriter: Sebastian Silva) — A gay couple try to have a baby with the help of their best friend, Polly. The trio navigates the idea of creating life while confronted by unexpected harassment from a neighborhood man called The Bishop. As their clashes grow increasingly aggressive, odds are someone is getting hurt. Cast: Sebastian Silva, Tunde Adebimpe, Kristin Wiig, Reg E. Cathey, Mark Margolis, Denis O’Hare.

“The Strongest Man” (Director and screenwriter: Kenny Riches) — An anxiety-ridden Cuban man who fancies himself the strongest man in the world attempts to recover his most prized possession, a stolen bicycle. On his quest, he finds and loses much more. Cast: Robert Lorie, Paul Chamberlain, Ashly Burch, Patrick Fugit, Lisa Banes.

“Take Me to the River” (Director and screenwriter: Matt Sobel) — A naive California teen plans to remain above the fray at his Nebraskan family reunion, but a strange encounter places him at the center of a long-buried family secret. Cast: Logan Miller, Robin Weigert, Josh Hamilton, Richard Schiff, Ursula Parker, Azura Skye.

“Tangerine” (Director: Sean Baker, Screenwriters: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch) — A working girl tears through Tinseltown on Christmas Eve searching for the pimp who broke her heart. Cast: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian, Mickey O’Hagan, Alla Tumanyan, James Ransone.

When a film has the name Mark Duplass attached to it, the film typically contains an in-depth look on human behavior with an empathic, yet slightly offbeat voice. Ergo, my interest is peaked whenever Duplass is involved with a project. In his latest role, he uncharacteristically plays the part of the anti-hero who generates screams as well as laughs in the comedy/horror/thriller film Creep.

After the world premiere of Creep at SXSW, I met up with director Patrick Brice and star Mark Duplass to talk about their latest film. In this panel interview, the two describe what makes a good found footage film, what they discovered while showing the film, and how the official still from the film was an accident.

How did you guys come up with the original idea?
Mark Duplass: It was a series of conversations, we’re close friends. We wanted to work together and we wanted to find something that we could perform in together. I think we are obsessed with how interesting people can be. We are people watchers. Most of our conversations gravitate towards these intricate details of human behavior and human interactions that we find funny or weird or interesting.

Once we came up with this idea of, you walk into someone’s home on a Craigslist encounter without knowing anything about them, it can lead to things that are maybe a little funny, maybe a little weird, and depending on which turn it takes, could get kind of fucking crazy. So we decided to explore that wormhole.

I remember seeing the first poster with Peachfuzz [as the title], when and why did you decide to change the title to Creep?
Duplass: Throughout the process, we showed the movie to a lot of people and discovered something really interesting. Which is that when you are making a movie that’s about very small human interactions, you want people’s brains focused on that. When we told people it was called Peachfuzz, they were trying to figure out for a while why it was called Peachfuzz. But when you tell people that the movie is called Creep, they know what they are going into, they know what they are looking for and their brain is focused solely on our faces. And the movie played intensely better.

Speaking of reactions, I found it particularly rewarding watching the film with an audience. Some would be laughing while others would be gasping. Did you expect to get such mixed reactions from the audience?
Patrick Brice: We anticipated it for sure. That’s been the reaction all the way through whenever we’ve shown this to friends. That was our primary hope. So last night was super validating.

Duplass: It’s a nice conversation piece. In particular, last night when we were walking out of theater there was a couple outside literally arguing with each other. Kind of angry with each other about one of them had laughed and the other had screamed in that moment. She was just like shocked that he could find it funny and he was shocked that had thought that it was scary. And I was like that is great, that’s a successful screening for us.

Mark, this isn’t your first comedy/horror type film that you’ve been apart of, was there anything you brought to Creep from making Baghead?
Duplass: This was a very unique film in that we [had] a pretty small crew and we shot a lot of the film off of an outline. Then we would edit, show it to people, then we would come back and reshoot. We shot this movie over the course of a year and a half. I have never done a movie like that before, so we were definitely in uncharted territory.

In terms of the tonal complexity of it, we started the movie off as an odd Craigslist encounter and wanted to see where it would go. The footage and the nature of the movie was begging us to go in the realm of something more thriller or horror oriented. We couldn’t stop it.

Brice: And it was a chance for you to explore the darkness a little bit.

Duplass: Yeah. I haven’t done that as much so it was fun.

With such a loose script organic shooting process, were there any major happy accidents that happened?
Duplass: [thinks about it a moment] Patrick was very thoughtful about where the cameras should be at all times and how to justify it. So in terms of the blocking of things, that stuff was pretty tightly executed.

That being said, there was some set pieces that we stumbled upon that we were like ‘Oh, this is very, very cool. We should shoot it this way.’ I think there was a moment where I play a little bit in silhouette, that we didn’t like…

Brice: The still from the film.

Yeah, the one where he is at the top of the staircase with the light.
Brice: Yeah, Mark is literally walking up the stairs and…

Duplass: Patrick is like, “Don’t move! Get back in here and we’re going to redo it.” [laughs] Every now and then you get some things [like that].

From start to finish it seems like you guys had a lot of fun with the project, but were there any sections or particular scenes that were especially difficult?
Duplass: There was stuff that we had to dial in [to make sure that] while this is a “POV” or “found footage” movie, that we could make [it] creditable. So we wanted to make sure that we kept our eyes and attention [to that]. Patrick did a real good job of make sure it was justified why we were seeing it from this perspective. We had to always think about that. It’s not always the most fun thing. That’s homework.

You worked with Jason Blum on this project, how involved was he?
Duplass: We made this film and then brought it to Jason. We knew that the partnership between what we do, which is more relationship oriented, and what he does, which is more horror oriented, would be something cool. To be quite honest, we love the idea that even the nature of the partnership of the Duplass Brothers and Blumhouse, asks the question, how the fuck is that going to work? [laughs] That to us is the exact question we want people asking when they walk in the theatre.

Yeah. Seemed like there was a lot of attention brought to when to insert certain jump scares at certain intervals. Was that something that you borrowed from them?
Brice: Oh, for sure.

Duplass: Yeah. We thought about it through the way and we wanted this movie to be odd and unique and interesting. But [we] also want horror fans to know that [they] can come see this and you’ll see something different, but we’ll also give you what you are looking for.

You’ve stated before that you are both not big fans of the found footage genre, what is it that you don’t care for and how did you go about addressing it in Creep?
Duplass: That’s tricky. Our feeling is that a lot of people go to make found footage because they feel like it’s an easy way to make a movie and a cheap way to make a movie. So most of the things we don’t like are the people who are just trying to make a found footage movie [for that reason]. Usually their story has a lot of holes in it and the performances are not what they could be because they are approaching it from the wrong reasons. Those are the things we don’t like–an overused and overexploited genre.

So what we feel like we have to offer is that we’re relationship people. We make sensitive movies. So we thought we could at least get the story right and get the performances right. Then we almost backed into it being a horror movie because the nature of it got really, really strange when we got to shooting.

So it wasn’t like you wanted to do a found footage film and then built something off of that.
Brice: Right. We started with the characters and getting you to care about them. Then hopefully the viewer is going to forget they are watching a found footage film.

Yeah. I certainly did at times.
Duplass: Yeah. There is nothing inherently wrong with the form. It’s just a form. It’s just how you use it.

There are really good ones. But for every good one there is about a hundred bad ones.

[everyone laughs]

Duplass: A hundred thousand! [laughs]

So you guys cited that your editor [Chris Donlon] was a big part of the process, could you explain the importance of him?
Duplass: He was the third filmmaker really. He was with us every step of the way and one of Patrick’s oldest friends. We are all very close. He not only edited the whole film and helped us produce it, and it’s hard to explain, but Patrick and I are verbal and vocal and we move quickly, and Chris is quiet and sweet.

If you examine 4 hours in a process, 3 hours and 57 minutes of that are Patrick and I talking, and then the 3 minutes of that are Chris being quiet and asking, “What if you do this?”

Brice: [laughs]

Duplass: And then we are like, “Yes! We got it!”

She’s Lost Control

As a surrogate partner therapist, its Ronah’s (Brooke Bloom) job to try to heal people of their sexual intimacy issues through various sessions and stages of erotic contact (think Helen Hunt in The Sessions). While at work she is seems to have all the answers on how to be intimate with a smile on her face, yet her home life reveals nothing but the opposite. She can barely crack a smile and has no one she can share herself with. It becomes increasingly apparent that Ronah doesn’t practice what she preaches she informs one of her clients how important it is to move on, yet she forms a personal relationship with him and is unable to let go.

She’s Lost Control is a quiet and slow moving film about the difficulties of separating emotions from sex. Though the film does bring up an interesting topic, it fails to explore it beyond just the surface. Also, the title is a bit of a stretch as her life never seemed to be in control. Temporarily bringing life to the picture is a brutal scene near the end that generated a collective gasp from the crowd in an otherwise mostly stagnant film.

RATING: 6.3

The Heart Machine

John Gallagher Jr. is an actor who needs no introduction here in Austin after starring in the cherished film Short Term 12 last year at SXSW. In The Heart Machine he stars as Cody, a New Yorker who is currently in a long distance online relationship with Virginia (Kate Lyn Sheil). The two have never met in person and because she’s thousands of miles away living in Berlin, they utilize services such as Skype and Facebook to interact with each other.

Everything is going swimmingly until Cody notices that the background sound of an ambulance siren on her end sounds an awful lot like an American one (apparently this is common knowledge). Soon he begins to question if she really is in another country as she claims. His suspicion starts off moderately legitimate but quickly escalates into complete obsession.

Watching Cody use his makeshift detective skills makes The Heart Machine an exhilarating ride as he gets closer and closer to discovering the truth about her real location. But it was Andy Warhol who said, “The idea of waiting for something makes it more exciting,” which is especially the case here as the final reveal is much less stimulating than the events leading up to it.

RATING: 7.2

Creep

Even though it was 9:00 p.m. it certainly felt like midnight at the Stateside Theatre tonight in Austin. That’s because this offbeat film from Patrick Brice has fun mixing comedy with horror that caters perfectly to a rowdy midnight movie audience. Though Creep’s effectiveness will be limited when played to a slightly broader audience.

Creep starts off as a typical found footage horror film when a man named Aaron (played by director Patrick Brice) decides to document his travels up to a remote cabin in the mountains to meet a mysterious man named Josef (Mark Duplass). But the film is far from typical. True to the title, Duplass’ character is downright creepy, often blurring the line between sincere and sinister. Each jump scare Duplass conjures up is followed up by some ridiculous stunt that generates laughter. Not all of the jokes landed, nor were all of the scares successful. But never in my life did I expect to be so haunted by the sight of Duplass.

RATING: 6.9