“Between Us is a powerful, brilliantly acted character piece…. The four-person cast…give the sense of breathing in their parts so deeply that they are at every move haunted by their characters’ secrets and torn by rival pulls of love and contempt toward the other characters. No corner of intimacy or secrets is left unexposed in the film that is at once hilarious and devastating.”- Richard Rushfield, BuzzFeed
“With the quick-paced lyrical flow of David Mamet, the bluntness of Neil LaBute and the scathing realism of John Cassavetes, the dialogue proves that words can be much more dangerous than weapons.”
- Don Simpson, Smells Like Screen Spirit
“Dan Mirvish’s Between Us at Slamdance one of most powerfully acted intense and funny dramas I’ve seen in a long time.”
- @RichardRushfield, BuzzFeed
“Between Us is an absolutely stunning, darkly comic study of two couples, whose lives and secrets travel a strange collision course, when they meet. Paying a curious homage to John Cassavetes, ‘Faces’ and Robert Altman’s, ‘Short Cuts,’ Mirvish moves one giant step beyond, proving just how precarious best friendships can be…. sly and brilliant.”
- Amy R. Handler, Film Threat
“Unlike Carnage, Between Us turns theater into cinema. How? ….[Mirvish] produces a feverish atmosphere that exactly re-creates what it’s like to be at a party where the hosts are coming unhinged…. His camera, and editing, are always on the move, so that watching and listening to Between Us brings back the best of Mike Nichols—particularly Carnal Knowledge, which Mirvish visually quotes—and the jangly talkativeness of Tony Scott’s True Romance.”
- Robert Koehler, LA Film Critics Association member, ArtsMeme
“Some great performances here: Julia Stiles and Taye Diggs are tremendous, Melissa George and David Harbour equally good. It makes you wonder why Taye Diggs isn’t a bigger star - he’s an unbelievable actor; this is one of the great performances of his career.”
- Wade Major, KPCC, Film Week
“Director Dan Mirvish and his gung-ho cast craft an adult drama that is deliciously dark and complex. Particular props goes to David Harbour; as Joel, the disenfranchised artist-turned-agency-man, he offers up an emotional somersault of a performance, one that pokes and prods the audience’s psyche from every angle, prompting us to seriously take stock of our own lives…. He knocks it completely f*cking out of the park….A quality, intelligent adult drama.”
- Ben Umstead, TwitchFilm.com
“A brilliant movie. All four performances were amazing.”
- Chris Gore, PodCrash
“Razor-sharp performances by a smashing quartet. Beats Polanki’s CARNAGE at its own game. An incisive parade of mangled relationships exquisitely corralled by Director Mirvish. Entre Nous….preciously diabolical!”
- Jake Jacobson, Westwood One
“Well-acted in all respects, but the standout has to be David Harbour as Joel. He has a dry humor that shines through and perfectly complements both the darkly comedic and the intensely dramatic. Mirvish keeps this dialogue heavy film constantly engaging with non-stop intensity.”
- Bethany Lewis, FilmSnobbery
“While all the actors give strong performances, it’s Harbour and George who steal the show and, with Mirvish’s direction, give what could be a simple four-person ensemble a depth and passion that will keep a viewer riveted.”
- William K. Wolfrum, DagBlog
“A bitter sardonic pleasure.”
- Ray Pride, Movie City News
“Mirvish’s elicits from its central quartet sharply focused and, in the case of Stiles and Harbour, career-best performances. As Grace, Stiles abandons her lingering teen-lover image for a vindictive, emotionally shattered character unlike her roles in any recent drama; matching her in alternate nastiness and appeal is David Harbour. High profile awards should not be considered out of the question for the hugely popular Stiles.”
- Sean Malin, CMFilmCommentary
“A tense, riveting and moving portrait of two couples in crisis, Between Us recalls Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and the films of John Cassavetes in its searing examination of relationships, but it has a style and insights that are completely its own.”
- Jim Hemphill, American Cinematographer
“Julia Stiles delivers a searing performance in Dan Mirvish’s Between Us”
- Greg Ptacek, Monsters and Critics
“It’s fantastic… It’s riveting!”
- Francis Von Zerneck, AM 1680
“[Between Us] is a taut, disturbing, fascinating psychological drama about two troubled couples.”
- Michael Dunaway, Paste Magazine
“A terrific cast, that includes Taye Diggs, Melissa George, David Harbour and Julia Stiles, and they are all absolutely outstanding, especially David Harbour. David Harbour is really, really good in this. A really interesting piece!”
- Wade Majors, IGN Digigods
“Thanks to a surprisingly strong cast, which includes Julia Stiles and Taye Diggs, Mirvish transforms this film into a captivating tale of two couples dealing with their evolving lives and marriages, and how the tables can turn in just a few years.”
- Jory Carroll, SLUG Magazine (Salt Lake Underground)
“Bring Me the Head of Virginia Wolff: Mirvish Scores With Acidic Marital Strifer….Between Us is a delightfully mean spirited exercise that blurs the lines of love and hate, friends and enemies.”
- Nicolas Bell, Ion Cinema
“Mirvish has chosen a phenomenal cast, and the performances are so raw, so believable and real that it almost hurts to watch, but at the same time you can’t look away.”
- Jessica Tomberlin, GoSeeTalk.com
”Particularly impressive in the performances is how well the actors convey this hurt in quiet scenes of burgeoning tension, as well as scenes where that tension has escalated to outright verbal warfare. If you enjoy stories that…stick with you and replay in your mind hours, even days after watching, Between Us is definitely worth a watch.” 4 out of 5 stars
- Olufemi Sowemimo, Doobious.org
“The juxtaposition of violent moments of the couples‚ relationships to flashbacks of happier times is genius…. Between Us, the devastating story of marriage’s dark side, is a must-see for any fan of the well-made drama. Mirvish captivates the audience from start to finish.”
- Courtney Bierman, The Jewish Press
“Intense!”
- Eugene Hernandez, “Daily Buzz”, Film Society of Lincoln Center/KRCL-FM
“Between Us thrives, and does so in all areas. Captivatingly directed and edited, Mirvish lets his cast and Hortua’s dialogue shine…. Between Us is observant but uncomfortable. It’s a real life and real people study. It’s intense and it’s sharp. It’s dark and it’s funny. As a matter of fact, it’s too dark. And too funny.”
- Angeliki Coconi, Unsung Films
“Surprising and bittersweet. A tightly wound, sharply observed domestic drama to rival the ruthless incision of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?“
- Marie-C, Cinemazzi
“A ruthless, no-frills look at what success can do to the American Dream. Mirvish & Co. present what nowadays is a rarity: A film about grown ups, made for grown ups by grown ups. Some love stories (and rest assured this is a love story) are thrilling. This one is devastating.”
- Miguel Cane, Milenio
“[Home Video Pick of the Week] Dan Mirvish directs this deft, incisive drama about a reunion between couples who used to be close friends but whose lives have taken very different paths. Featuring a solid ensemble of Julia Stiles, Taye Diggs, Melissa George, and David Harbour, Between Us is smartly adapted for the screen and deals with real adult issues.”
- Michael Tully, Hammer to Nail
“Really well done and the acting’s incredible….So brutally honest.”
- Mark Bell, Film Threat
”Excellent film: An honest, earnest look at the nature of relationships, jealousy and growth that is funny, sad and insightful of the human condition.”
- Herb Stratford, Arts & Culture & Film Guy, KVOA TV-4 (NBC) & KMSB TV-11 (FOX)
“[#1 Pick for Streaming Movie of the Week!] Tensely directed and admirably performed, and tight without seeming boxed-in — as so many theatrical adaptations do.”
- Jason Bailey, Flavorwire
“I laughed, I cried, I shivered, I sighed. I loved it!”
- Ric Allen, KPFK-FM
“Truth drips off the screen. Powerful. Go see it.”
- Steve Aufrecht, WhatDoIKnow?
“This is a raw look at the choices people make in life, the tradeoffs, and how they deal with them. It’s in-your-face drama that…provides food for thought.”
- Tim Miller, Cape Cod Times
“Brilliant cast.”
- William Conway, CineBLOG
“The film boasts some great acting performances as it explores the effect of time and distance on BFFs when they leave school and try to survive in a cut-throat world.”
- Jim Batts, We Are Movie Geeks
“A Mamet-esque glimspe of modern relationships. A cultural must-see. An adaptation that not only does justice to the source material, but in some ways outdoes it.”
- Nic Baisley, FilmSnobbery
“It’s awesome. I loved it. Beautifully awkward.”
- Brittany Walloch, Schmoes Know Movies
“8/10 stars. Employing a non-linear style where even the flashback scenes are presented out of sequence, [Mirvish] manages to keep the entire piece flowing smoothly throughout….Audiences can anticipate more good work from Mirvish who, hopefully, will continue to challenge cinematic norms as he does with this compelling anti-romance drama.”
- Shannon Houston, Paste Magazine
“Dan Mirvish – who adapted the script from the stage play by and with Joe Hortua – brings to the screen the rawness and fear of what the depths of a toxic relationship can look like with two couples reuniting over two incendiary evenings.”
- Valentina Valentini, The Movie Banter
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Festival Screenings:
Bahamas International Film Festival – Grand Jury Prize Winner
Gijon International Film Festival (Spain) – Closing Night Film
Oldenburg International Film Festival (Germany) – World Premiere
Athens International Film Festival – Greek Premiere
Hamptons International Film Festival – North American Premiere
Whistler International Film Festival – Canadian Premiere
Brisbane International Film Festival – Australian Premiere
Slamdance Film Festival – Special Screening
Woodstock Film Festival
Napa Valley Film Festival
St. Louis International Film Festival
Anchorage International Film Festival
IndieMemphis Film Festival
Laughlin Film Festival
Virginia Film Festival
Atlanta International Film Festival
Ashland Film Festival
Sarasota Film Festival
Dallas International Film Festival
Fort Myers Beach Film Festival
Waterfront Film Festival (Michigan)
Woods Hole Film Festival (Massachusetts) – Winner, Best Actor for David Harbour
Portland Film Festival (Maine)
Director’s Statement:
Between Us is based on a hit Off-Broadway play written by Joe Hortua, but it is ironically my most personal film I’ve worked on to date. The characters and their circ*mstances are very much like my own: dealing with marriage and young children, and the struggle between having an authentic artistic career and a job that pays the bills, and even the roles of religion and spirituality in a modern life. I actually had a choice to adapt “Between Us” or a play called “Farragut North.” I turned down the latter, which George Clooney eventually adapted into “The Ides of March.” He did OK with it, and I have no regrets.
In adapting Between Us, when I felt that the character Joel needed a visually cathartic moment to dramatize his emotional change, I needed to look no further than my own life: I’d recently fallen off a ladder and found myself in a wheelchair for 6 months with a severely broken leg and shoulder. I knew first-hand how that experience has the potential to change not only one’s own life, but also how it affects a marriage. My own disability further inspired the script: I’d just been to Park City for Slamdance in my wheelchair and while hosting our annual sled-off, I realized the visual image of a wheelchair in the snow was both striking and original.
The challenge with adapting any play into film is how to make it more cinematic, and to use the conventions and tools of filmmaking to distinguish the piece from theater. There are three main things you can do in a movie that aren't easily done in a play: Change locations, move the camera to direct the audience's eye, and editing to re-alter the natural course of time.
In doing the adaptation of Between Us, playwright Joe Hortua and I have attempted to do all three, while still preserving the essential dialogue, themes, characters and story that made the original play so successful. In the play, the whole first act was set in Joel and Sharyl's midwestern house over the course of one evening when Grace and Carlo come to visit. After the intermission, the setting changed to two years later in Grace and Carlo's New York apartment.
One of the biggest things we've done is to restructure the story - flashing back and forth in time between the two evenings, and also to other events in the couples' lives. The film also allows us to move more with the characters: Joel and Carlo go for a drive, getting lost in the Midwest; Grace has a dream of going to Buenos Aires; Joel struggles with his wheelchair through the snow; and we see Sharyl doing the bossa nova with her sexy Brazilian contractor. We also use stylistic elements to move the camera in and out of our sets, as transitions for the flashbacks. Other cinematic touches include the use of stylized set elements like the plasma screen and the large-format cameras to literally add another visual dimension to the scenes.
One note about sound is that we rehearsed the cast for two weeks and really nailed down the overlapping dialogue in the script. I was mentored by Robert Altman, and I used his sound technique of giving each actor their own lavaliere mic and recording each track (plus a boom) separately. This ensured the most naturalistic performances, guaranteed no ADR, and gave us maximum flexibility in post-production.
Synopsis:
In this darkly comedic drama, two couples reunite over two incendiary evenings where anything can happen. Grace and Carlo are a newly married New York couple who visit their old friends Sharyl and Joel in their huge Midwestern home. Despite their wealth, the hosts are in a bitterly destructive marriage. A few years later, the couples reunite in New York, but the tables are turned as the young couple struggles with parenthood and finances, only to discover their old friends even more successful and much happier than before.
