Palm Trees and Power Lines: Jamie Dack, Lily McInerny, Jonathan Tucker on Their Cautionary Tale
30One of the best films I saw at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was Palm Trees and Power Lines. Directed by Jamie Dack, and written by Dack and Audrey Findlay, the power film is about a teen girl (played brilliantly by first-time actor Lily McInerny) and her relationship with a man twice her age (Jonathan Tucker). Without getting into the specifics of the story, the film takes an unvarnished and realistic look at how a lonely teenager can be drawn into an inappropriate relationship.
One of the many reasons why I found Palm Trees and Power Lines to be such a powerful film is that Dack and Findlay didn’t pull any punches with the script. They never try and Hollywoodize the story and what happens. Instead, they depict on screen what, unfortunately, many women have gone through, and how someone can be pulled into walking down a dark path without realizing they left the main road. The film also stars Gretchen Mol and Auden Thornton.
Shortly before Jamie Dack won the U.S. Dramatic Sundance Jury Award for Directing, I spoke to her and Lily McInerny and Jonathan Tucker about making the film. They talked about what it was like on set when filming the powerful scenes, why Dack wanted to cast an unknown as the lead, how the film shines a light on how people get pulled into an unhealthy relationship and how someone can use the stages of grooming to control an individual, what would people be surprised to learn about the making of the film, the editing process, and their dream projects. In addition, Lily McInerny shared what it was like making her first film, and how it compared to what she expected.
Watch what they had to say in the player above, and below is exactly what we talked about followed by a more detailed synopsis.
Jamie Dack, Lily McInerny, and Jonathan Tucker
If they could get the financing to make anything they want, what would they make and why?
Jonathan Tucker on if he noticed when Kingdom started streaming on Netflix that a lot of people were talking to him about it?
How have they been describing the film to people?
Lily talks about what it was like making her first movie versus what she expected going in?
What was it like on set trying to capture this intimate story and Dack talks about the aesthetic she was going for.
Dack and Tucker talk about why they loved working with Lily McInerny and her fantastic performance.
Why it’s sometimes helpful to cast an unknown in a lead role.
How the film shines a light on how people get pulled into an unhealthy relationship and how someone can use the stages of grooming to control an individual.
What was it like between takes when filming the tough scenes?
What would people be surprised to learn about the making of the film?
What was it like for Dack when she first got in the editing room and saw the footage?
Did they make any big changes in the editing room?
What was it like for McInerny and Tucker to watch the movie for the first time?
Here’s the official Palm Trees and Power Lines synopsis:
Increasingly dissociated from lazy, drunken hangouts and perfunctory hookups with her immature peers, bored, aimless 17-year-old Lea is intrigued by older-man Tom after he rescues her following a reluctant dine-and-dash at a local diner. Initially wary (he’s twice her age!), Lea finds that Tom’s focused attention fills a deep, unspoken need, and Lea’s investment in their relationship quickly supplants her already tenuous ties to her distracted single mom and loose-knit friend group. But Tom’s initial patience and willingness to let Lea take the lead gradually gives way to a dynamic in which his awareness of the power he holds is distressingly clear.
#PalmTreesandPowerLines #LilyMcInerny #JonathanTucker
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