Signature Entertainment
2015 saw Abner Pastoll’s Road Games arrive on the genre circuit. The film was a bi-lingual story of a young couple whom find themselves in trouble when they happen upon a peculiar married couple. Starring Queen of Frightfest, Barbara Crampton, Road Games demonstrated that Pastoll was an interesting and exciting new voice, and one to watch.
The film screened at Frightfest not once, but twice, with Pastoll returning the following year to host a live audio commentary screening. Given how well Road Games was received by the Frightfest audience, and Pastoll’s close relationship with the Frightfest team, it came as no surprise when his next project, A Good Woman is Hard To Find, was announced to play at this year’s summer event. The film had the prestige of closing the 20th anniversary of the festival and it went down a treat. The screening was a resounding success and this Friday the film finally arrives in cinemas; if you missed it at Frightfest, now is the time to right that wrong.
A Good Woman is Hard to Find stars Sarah Bolger as Sarah, a recently widowed young mother whom will go to great lengths to protect her children as she seeks the truth behind her husband’s murder. Set in Ireland, the film focuses on the hardships that Sarah and her young family face, the three of them essentially living hand to mouth, and despite its fantastical plot points, it feels uncomfortably real. We know that there are many families in the United Kingdom and Ireland that are living below the poverty line and A Good Woman is Hard to Find casts a light on them by putting these types of characters in the spotlight.
With Abner being a very busy man, touring the festival circuit with his film, we caught up with him at Frightfest to find out a little more about A Good Woman is Hard to Find.
Signature Entertainment
You’re back at Frightfest with film number two. Given the reaction to Road Games, are you excited to share A Good Woman is Hard to Find with them?
I’m very excited because this is a very different movie. I have no idea what they’ll think – I’m pretty sure they’ll like it – but I’m not sure what the reaction will be. I want to be in the room and feel it, just feel the reactions, see the moments that they laugh, the moments that they gasp.
And it’s the closing film, does that make you more or less nervous?
I just feel honoured. I like the movie enough that I don’t feel nervous about it. I’m just excited for them to see it.
How did the film come into creation?
It was one month before the world premiere or Road Games here at Frightfest when I read the script for A Good Woman is Hard to Find, which is written by Ronan Blaney whom is a really amazing Irish writer. Basically I was looking for a writing partner to collaborate with, and my producer knew a really great agent and asked him if he could send over some samples of his clients. He sent five samples and there was this one script called A Good Woman is Hard to Find by Ronan Blaney, and it blew me away. I was just, ‘what is this? Can we just make this instead? We don’t need to collaborate on any of my ideas, I just wanna make this.’ It turned out that not only had Ronan just finished writing the draft one week before, I was one of the first people to even read it other than his agent. I found it really early when it was fresh and it was all there ready. I thought it was in a really good state to start to cast and piece together, and it evolved as we went along.
Sarah Bolger is just phenomenal in the film. How did she come to the project and when did you know that she was your lead?
When I read the script I knew that she would be the right one for the role. I couldn’t see anyone else. I had that idea. Having been a fan of hers since she was a kid, in America and in The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Tudors, and all the amazing projects she’s done over the years. She’s basically been acting her whole life. I had read the script, and in 2015 when Road Games was on the festival circuit so was her film Emelie,where she plays a psychotic babysitter. I had read the script before I watched Emelie and already thought she’d be great. Then I saw her performance in that [Emelie] and I knew that she was a really good choice.
I saw a different side to her and I thought it would be really interesting to take that and subvert what she’s doing in that, where here she’s caring for the children and rather than not. We sent it to Sarah and she really connected to the character. She fell in love with the character immediately. It was a very easy casting process. When I sent the script to her agent he had a look at the script and said, ‘I think this is a good idea for Sarah’, and I was Skyping with her within twenty-four hours. That’s how quickly she read the script and liked it. Honestly, it never happens.
It’s a story that in some respects is potentially quite real, and in some degree is happening to people. How important is it to get that message out there that look there are these people that are living hand to mouth, the people that the world has forgotten about. How important is it to represent these people?
That was the inspiration for my writer Ronan. These people that are basically forgotten about or not cared for. The government, the politicians, no one cares about them. The police don’t really care about them and they’re struggling themselves. It was about taking this character from that environment and putting her in this situation that she has to deal with. She basically has to deal with unfathomable things, but it’s done so in such a realistic way because what options does she have? I guess it’s important in the sense of trying to be as true to the character as we could.
Signature Entertainment
As serious as the issues are in the film, and as dark as some of the places that the film goes into, there is quite a bit of humour laced throughout. How was it trying to balance those two tones?
There’s always that fine line. Is it going to play as a good joke, or is it going to just feel cheesy? You just have to go with your gut instinct. There’s no right or wrong way with it. Some people might still think it’s not even that good, they might not appreciate the humour. In my opinion, the humour is really important and relevant to help the suspense and the tension. That balancing out compliments each other so that when there is humour, it’s almost like a relief from the tension. A lot of the humour was written into the script, there were other things that were added through improvisations and whatever. It was just about finding the balance when piecing it together.
The other two stars of the film are the two young children…
Macie McCauley and Rudy Doherty
…How were they to work with? The children don’t necessarily witness too much of the darkness, but they are around it. How is that on a set?
The kids were a nightmare! (Laughs) Just kidding. They were really wonderful. It was both of their first acting project. We found them through workshops. It was really great fun. On day one they had no idea what was going on. I remember Sarah and I looking at each other like, ‘oh my God we’re going to have to cut the kids out of the movie, this is going to be a nightmare,’ but they very quickly learned how everything worked. They’d be their normal selves laughing and joking and running around, and then they’d hear the camera team get ready and they’d hit action and they’d just switch. Nobody told them how to do that, they just figured it out by watching everything else happen.
Kid’s are like little sponges aren’t they?
Yeah. They really got into it. So the moments where they encounter darkness, there’s a moment were Tito forces his way into the apartment and there’s a shot of the little girl really frightened. We actually scared her. We got permission from her mum to give her a fright. So that’s a genuine shock. We had Andrew Simpson yelling off screen and after we did that she was, ‘that was amazing! Can we do it again?’
There’s been some speculation as to where you are from. I know after Road Games people were referring to you as a French director, the reviews of A Good Woman is Hard to Find so far are referring to you as Irish. Are you ever going to reveal where you’re actually from?
I like that though. I like people not knowing where I’m from. I think it makes me a chameleon. Next maybe I’ll make a movie in Russia and I’ll be a Russian director. I’ll make a movie in the States and be American (Laughs).
What’s the reception to the film been so far.
It’s been overwhelmingly positive. It’s been incredible.
What are viewers going to experience when watching A Good Woman is Hard to Find?
I just hope that they like it.
And what’s next, are you working on a follow-up?
My writer Ronan and I are exploring the possibility of expanding Sarah’s world.
A Good Woman is Hard to Find arrives in cinemas on Friday 25th October.
