After delving into a variety of subjects in narrative and documentary shorts while working as an up-and-comer in the movie industry for the past almost decade-and-a-half, multi-hyphenate filmmaker Robert Machoian is once again proving his versatility as a storyteller with his latest narrative feature, ‘The Killing of Two Lovers.’ Now an established feature film writer, director, producer and editor, he’s reflecting on the period of life he’s in right now as a family man, raising his children as they’re contending with approaching, and living through, their adolescence.
Seeing some of his friends also grapple with the same situation with their children, and the strain it can have on their marriages at times, Machoian crated the protagonist of David , who’s played by his fellow executive producer, Clayne Crawford, and reflects how fathers respond to the change in family dynamics. The main character, who’s separated from his wife, isn’t responding well to losing his everyday experiences with their four children. However, his wife doesn’t begin to understand the change in his behavior until she’s eventually able to put herself in his situation, and see his true emotions and perspective about their strained relationship.
Neon is releasing ‘The Killing of Two Lovers’ today in theaters and On Demand. The movie’s official distribution comes after the feature had its world premiere at last year’s Sundance Film Festival.
‘The Killing of Two Lovers’ follows David as he desperately tries to keep his family together during a separation from his wife, Nikki (Sepideh Moafi). They both agree to see other people, but David struggles to come to terms with his wife’s relationship with her new boyfriend, Derek (Chris Coy). David must also grapple with moving back in with his father while he’s estranged from Nikki and their children, which leaves him pondering how his personal life veered so far off course, and what he can do to fix it.
Machoian generously took the time recently to talk about writing, directing, executive producing and editing ‘The Killing of Two Lovers’ during an exclusive video interview over Zoom. Among other things, the filmmaker discussed why he was inspired to write the script for the drama, and how he approached scribing the story. He also mentioned how working on the screenplay influenced his helming style during the production. The director also delved into what the casting process like for the movie, and how he approached building the characters’ arcs with the actors, particularly Crawford and Moafi.
Watch our exclusive video interview with Machoian above, and the official trailer for ‘The Killing of Two Lovers’ below.
ShockYa's Karen Benardello exclusively interviews writer-director-executive producer-editor Robert Machoian about his drama, 'The Killing of Two Lovers.'