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Toronto: ‘Purgatory’ Director Navigates Warring Parents and Girl Power in Dark Divorce Comedy
Developing
In Short: Rebel Wilson stars and directs 'Girl Group,' a fun, character-driven musical comedy that blends heart and humor, with cameos from the Spice Girls and Pussycat Dolls.
Rebel Wilson has returned to her roots with 'Girl Group,' a musical comedy that combines heart and humor. The film follows popstar Tassie Young, played by Wilson, as she navigates her former bandmates' reunion tour and her own party girl ways. With an ensemble cast that includes Jennifer Coolidge, Randall Park, and Derry Girls alum Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, the movie is a nostalgic trip back to 2011, when 'Cups (When I’m Gone)' was a hit.
Wilson's direction and performance are complemented by the hilarious ensemble, which also features cameos from the Spice Girls' Mel C and Pussycat Dolls' Nicole Scherzinger. The film is stacked with fun choreographed covers of popular songs, keeping up with the seasoned co-stars' comedic chops.
Meanwhile, in 'Purgatory,' director Lindsay Lanzillotta explores the premise of a girl's life in turmoil due to her parents' divorce in the 1980s. The film stars J.K. Simmons as a Catholic priest who becomes a mentor to the young protagonist, Beatrice, in a small town where empathy has disappeared. Lanzillotta's direction puts the audience in a confessional chair, resonating with their own dark secrets around familial divorce.
The Aniplex One Focus livestream event on Saturday revealed a trailer for the 'Yoroshiku★Girl' story segment of Atsushi Nishigori's original anime film Grotesqqque, with CloverWorks and Wit Studio as the representative directors of JOEN.
What's still developing
- In Girl Group, co-written and directed by Wilson, the Australian multihyphenate stars as popstar Tassie Young, who found fame with her four best friends when they were discovered at a talent show in 1996.
- Nearly 15 years after first stealing audiences’ funny bones as Fat Amy, Rebel Wilson has provided a new generation with a musical comedy that will have fans laughing and singing along just the same.
- With fun choreographed covers of Spice Girls, Destiny’s Child, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan and others, the ensemble of newcomers puts their talent on full display, in addition to keeping up with their seasoned co-stars’ comedic chops.
- What’s a girl to do when your parents split up and leave your sheltered, suburban home and school life in ruins?
- Lanzillotta directed Purgatory from a screenplay by Christine Speer and looked to get into Beatrice’s head as, while naive as a coming-of-age tween, she’s also hyper-aware and traumatized by her disrupted home and school life.
- “It’s like when feelings are on top of your skin, everyone does feel a little fake around you and doesn’t feel what you’re feeling and you wonder, ‘Does anyone see how I’m feeling,’” the director explains.
- But in a small town where empathy has virtually disappeared to be replaced by heartlessness and even savagery among Beatrice’s high school friends and their parents, the exception and vital opening for tenderness in Purgatory comes with J.K.
- His Catholic priest character, as he has Beatrice in his confession booth, becomes a kind and assuring mentor for a young girl as he teaches her difficult truths about growing up while her life is under siege.
Sources
- The Hollywood Reporterlink