I sat down to interview Josh Gad to discuss his starring role in Couples Weekend, which premiered at Tribeca and is being released by Vertical. As well as the film’s writer/director, Nora Kirkpatrick.
The film follows two couples (Josh Gad + Ashley Park & Alexandra Daddario + Daveed Diggs) who get trapped in a secluded cabin during a New Year’s blizzard. And although that seems like a horror setup, it’s a relationship drama that takes on an element of the horrific when Gad and Daddario realize their spouses have done the unspeakable.
Gad shared his takeaway from the film:
“You have to bury the past and mourn it and let go of it and find a new beginning like a phoenix out of the ashes.”
It’s quite an enlightened perspective, something it takes the characters a long time to reach.
Kirkpatrick shared:
“It's about the mask that we present to our partners. And if you're people who were together for a long time, who did not reintroduce themselves to each other and drifted like this… so we're watching the schism between the truth and what they're saying is the truth. That's the movie.”
As the film evolves, it becomes about how much we’re willing to damage our self-worth to prop up our relationships and how, only by being vulnerable, can we begin again.
During the interview Gad gave a deep dive into his methodologies and what he’s learned from his years as a prolific voice actor (Frozen, Pixels, Zootopia 2).
Kirkpatrick also breaks down her biggest challenges on this film, which was her directorial debut, including a very tricky tree.
Here is the trailer:
Now available on VOD.
