The arrival of the trailer for the upcoming drama, Meadowland, serves as an alarm-call to those in filmmaking – to make room for some brand new voices, and reassess some established ones. The film, which received a nomination for Best Narrative Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year, is the screenwriting debut of Chris Rossi, and the directorial debut of award-winning cinematographer Reed Morano – and it features stunning performances from an all-star cast.
“In the hazy aftermath of an unimaginable loss, married couple Sarah (Olivia Wilde) and Phil (Luke Wilson) come unhinged – recklessly ignoring the repercussions. Phil, a New York City cop, starts to lose sight of his morals as Sarah puts herself in increasingly dangerous situations, falling deeper into her own fever dream. The directorial debut of cinematographer Reed Morano, Meadowland is a visceral exploration of grief and hope. Featuring Giovanni Ribisi, Elisabeth Moss, Ty Simpkins, John Leguizamo, Kevin Corrigan and Merritt Weaver.”
Meadowland has placed Olivia Wilde and Luke Wilson in roles that are, perhaps, outside of what audiences usually associate them with – and that in itself is a great strength of the project. It is clear from the trailer that Wilde takes a deep, deep dive in this piece, along with Wilson – albeit to a seemingly lesser extent – and both appear to accomplish what is needed, flawlessly. The supporting cast is equally notable – stacked with performers who have individually never produced a turn that was anything less than impressive.
But, it is behind the camera that the source of the magic can be found, in director Reed Morano – pulling double-duty as cinematographer, too. It is immediately evident in this preview footage that, with her years of experience – including recent films, such as Kill Your Darlings, War Story and The Skeleton Twins – Morano is able to create an atmosphere in Meadowland that removes all barriers between the viewer and Olivia Wilde’s disintegrating Sarah. This only enhances the raw, visceral nature of the film, as the characters spiral downward into the depths of their despair.
As Meadowland is released in theatres on October 16th, 2015, and On Demand on October 23rd – we can hopefully look forward to seeing a lot more from Reed Morano, and Olivia Wilde in particular. With this as their calling card, Hollywood studios would be missing out on some incredible talent if they weren’t hammering on the doors of these filmmakers right now.
