But Ruth can’t seem to shake the feeling that something feels off, and she may be right.
Did you intend for there to be multiple interpretations of the film?
Robert Olsen:Sure, to a certain extent.
We went into it with a theme in mind.
It’s the way that it is.
That was something that we wanted to explore.
She’s so unlikeable."
It’s the kind of film you must see more than once to catch everything.
Dan Berk:We hope it’s a conversation starter.
We like to call it the perfect anti-date movie.
It’s a great breakup movie.
There’s a lot of different ways that an audience member can relate to this film.
An unexpectedly smooth shoot
How long did the film take to shoot?
Did it go according to plan, or were there any hiccups along the way?
Dan:We shot the movie in 27 days.
It actually went better than according to plan, because it was slated for a 28-day shoot.
It was an incredibly blessed production phase.
We’re also total prep hounds.
We take a very Hitchcockian approach to pre-production, where we prep wildly.
Luckily, on this one, it all went according to what we planned.
With production, there were no hiccups.
It only rained on one or two days, at least where you could read the rain on camera.
There might have been drizzle here or there, but that doesn’t necessarily get picked up.
The film gods were shining down upon us during production, for sure.
It was a funny thing we conceived this film as such a smaller enterprise.
That was the plan.
The final product is probably better in many ways than what we wrote.
We were very lucky in that sense.
We’re thrilled with the final movie.
Robert:We worked with Maika on our last movie, “Villains.”
We start working with her on her character within the script before we even start shooting the actual movie.
She’s incredible; she can get to these high emotional places instantly.
It makes production that much smoother.
She’s an incredible person, too, and a great friend of ours.
Jake somehow slotted right into that.
The most important thing is that he can go toe-to-toe with Maika, which is very hard to do.
I’m not kidding when I say she’s one of the best actors we’ve ever worked with.
It’s so nice to know that you don’t have to worry about your actors.
You have to worry about whether it’s going to rain.
But with them, it’s the best of both worlds.
You get a great product, and you have a great time doing it.
I hope it gets a good response.
I’m curious to see what the rest of the audience thinks of it.
Dan:Us too.
Robert:We’re on pins and needles here in the final few days before this thing comes out.
We hope it’s a good conversation starter.
“Significant Other” is available to stream on Paramount+.
This interview was edited for clarity.
