London, Marc leads a happy existence with his husband, Oliver, in their opulent home. The only downside: since the death of his mother a year earlier, Marc has no longer been able to paint. However, misfortune strikes again when Oliver dies in an accident. Devastated, Marc spent an entire year absorbing the shock. He is about to get up again when a revelation about the deceased upsets his past certainties. Fleeing reality, he invites his friends Sophie and Thomas for a stay in Paris, claiming to want to thank them for their support. With comic drama Good Grievance (The widower effect), the co-creator of Schitt’s Creek Dan Levy changes register. As he explains to us exclusively, this project was a bit of an opportunity for him to confront his own creative block.
The idea for the film came to Dan Levy unexpectedly.
“I was lying in bed one night and I had this vision of what it would be like to mourn someone for a year, only to find out that that person was not who you had imagined,” says the Canadian director, screenwriter, producer and actor, joined by videoconference.
“How would we react to that, a discovery that changes everything, that sheds a different light on everything we thought we knew about the person we are mourning? What would be the consequences of that? How would we experience this? What would we do? What would we say to people? What would we keep for ourselves? This vision became the hook of the film. »
On the subject of the “creative block” mentioned from the outset, Dan Levy explains without prevarication: “When Schitt’s Creek ended, I didn’t know what I wanted to do next. But you have to give yourself the freedom to let your brain settle, to figure out what story you want to tell next. It’s an industry that is so… “Move, move, move, go, go, go, and profit from this, and profit from that…” I admit I really struggled to find this “story that I wanted to tell next”, a story that would really mean something to me. It wasn’t until I had this vision in bed that I said to myself, “Oh, I think that’s it.” I believe a lot in this gestation period, but it takes time. »
Inspiration lost and found is in this case one of the rare points in common that Dan Levy has with his character.
“I wanted to develop a character who was really different from me. With my friends, I am honest, frank — sometimes to excess. And I thought it would be interesting to portray someone who is the opposite of that; someone who is in constant denial, who has chosen to avoid their sadness and the sorrows of life and who distracts themselves with beauty, love, friendship. I wanted those to be the foundations of the protagonist. For an actor, a character who is afraid to face his own life, that’s a pretty fascinating area to explore. »
The importance of representation
Still in the area of similarities, there is also the fact that Marc is gay, like Dan Levy. For the author, it was obvious, but also an opportunity to represent his community as he loves and perceives it, without idealizing it.
“We need to be able to talk about the gay experience and what it is without having to sugarcoat it, but without having to put it on a pedestal either, nor having to treat it differently from any other experience. »
The project was further influenced by the sudden death of Dan Levy’s grandmother. Indeed, the pain he felt led him to reflect on the nature of mourning and the many ways that people experience it.
In Marc’s case, we will have understood, it is the escape. However, during the Parisian interlude that follows, Marc will find that the existence of his friends Sophie and Thomas is not simpler than his own.
“Marc’s journey through the film is about understanding that everyone around him is grieving. Sometimes about a person, thing, or relationship, but everyone is grieving. It was intentional on my part that at the end of the film, Marc felt somehow comforted by the fact that no one leads a perfectly ordered existence: everyone does their best. And I think that too often we forget that it’s OK, that it’s enough. »
Basically, Sophie and Thomas are Marc’s “chosen family”. Even in the past, Thomas and Marc formed a couple, briefly.
“A gay friendship that was once a romantic relationship, I think is pretty common in the community. But we don’t talk about it much. Presenting such friendship, however, was not a conscious decision: I am simply writing from my own experiences. Afterwards, I cross my fingers that people recognize themselves in my characters. You know, the issue of representation is important. Normalization through storytelling… I hope to help open people’s minds about who we are and, perhaps, help other artists tell stories about their own communities. »
Freedom to explore
In this regard, Dan Levy is delighted to have been able to conceive this project as he intended: his film is as he had begun to envision it, that famous night, lying in his bed.
“I did the project I wanted to do. I said what I wanted to say, and that should be enough. But the fact remains that coming up with something unexpected, especially when it’s not necessarily what the industry expects from you, comes with a lot of vulnerability and… and scared, I guess. I think if I want to stay in this industry and continue to feel inspired, I need to have the freedom to explore a lot of different ideas. And not all of these ideas will be in comedy. And that’s okay. »
This does not prevent, as Dan Levy frankly admits, the release of Good Grievance causes him a certain dizziness.
“I want people to like the film, of course, but I wish it was already out, behind me. This expectation… It’s a period where I’m very on edge, very exposed. It’s so personal… During this time, I just… want to go far away, somewhere, and hide. »
Ultimately, this is undoubtedly where Dan Levy reveals himself to be the most different from his character. Because he doesn’t go away, doesn’t hide, in short, doesn’t flee: he faces up. To our delight.
The film The widower effect (VF of Good Grievance) releases on Netflix on January 5.