In the newly released trailer for Amber Tamblyn’s “Paint It Black,” Josie (Alia Shawkat, “Search Party”) gets the phone call that everyone fears. “Has there been any individual you know that’s been missing recently?” the detective on the other end of the line asks. “We’ve got a white male registered as, uh, Oscar Wilde.” In a few silent cuts, we see Josie’s memories of the white male in question, who is actually her boyfriend, Michael (Rhys Wakefield, “House of Lies”). We also see her identify his body.
Unfortunately, bereavement and heartbreak aren’t the only obstacles Josie faces in the film. She also has to deal with Michael’s intense, cruel mother, Meredith (Janet McTeer, “Me Before You”). “If my son had never met you, would he have killed himself?” Meredith wonders aloud to Josie.
Josie and Meredith definitely not friends — or even friendly, really — but their mutual grief binds them together and the two women form a relationship, one that the film’s synopsis describes as “equal parts distrust and blind need.”
“Paint It Black” marks actress Tamblyn’s directorial debut. Her acting credits include “Two and a Half Men,” “House,” and “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” franchise. When “Paint It Black” debuted at last year’s LA Film Fest, Tamblyn told us that she was inspired to make the movie as soon as she read its source material, Janet Fitch’s book of the same name. “Its story had a rare and delicate cinematic power in its language,” Tamblyn explained, “different from any other book I’d read before.”
“My hope was to make a movie that was as visually intoxicating as it is psychologically — a true and twisted look at the violent, terrifying, and beautiful subconscious lives of women in the throws of major life changes,” Tamblyn explained when “Paint It Black” was acquired by Imagination Worldwide. “I wanted to make a film about the literal way in which women grieve, not a film about women’s grief.”
Tamblyn, who penned the film’s script with Ed Dougherty (“Gone to Jasper”), published a book of poetry in 2015. “Dark Sparkler” is comprised of poems from the perspectives of 25 actresses, including Sharon Tate, Marilyn Monroe, and Brittany Murphy.
“Paint It Black” opens May 19.
