The French comedy thriller is produced by Declaration Studio, and Victor Hadida's Davis Films which is behind "Return to Silent Hill." Fresh off her César win for co-writing “Un ours dans le Jura” (“How to Make a Killing”), Sarah Kaminsky is making an unusually ambitious leap into directing with “Las Vegas Thérapie.” The €13 million French comedy-thriller is now shooting across Nevada and Utah with a cast led by “Call My Agent!” star Laure Calamy (who also headlined “How to Make a Killing”), Jérôme Commandeur, Jérémie Renier and Quebec actor Noémie O’Farrell. The high-concept plot opens in Las Vegas, where Jack (Renier), a Frenchman who has reinvented himself as a wedding planner, and Mauricette (O’Farrell), his irreverent Quebecois associate, welcome Philippe (Commandeur) and Isabelle (Calamy), a couple whose marriage is running out of steam. They embark on a fateful journey to Nevada on the advice of their therapist in an effort to rekindle their relationship.
Things go off the rails when Jack discovers that Isabelle is his ex. What starts as couples therapy and a romantic excursion through the desert gradually turns into a far more dangerous road trip as bodies begin to pile up. Kaminsky is producing with Leo Maidenberg, Aurélie Grossmann through their vehicle Declaration Studio, and Victor Hadida‘s Davis Films.
Hadida, who has a longstanding experience working on major U.S. franchises such as”Resident Evil” and “Silent Hill,” recruited his partner on “Silent Hill,” David Wulf. The latter joined the project and is co-producing through his Salt Lake City-based company Redline Entertainment. Sébastien Delloye at Belgium’s Entre Chien et Loup is also co-producing.
The film will be shooting in the American West, stretching from Las Vegas and southern Utah to Kanab, Heber and the state’s vast Salt Flats. We could have shot in Spain or Morocco for a quarter less, but it was important to shoot on location to have this original backdrop and that authenticity that Sarah’s script called for,” said Hadida, who described the movie as “a romantic road trip gone wrong,” driven by a biting sense of humor. While it’s Kaminsky’s first movie as a director, she’s known for writing a raft of popular films beyond “How to Make a Killing.” She previously co-wrote a number of hits directed by Dany Boon, notably “RAID Dingue” and “La Ch’tite famille,” as well as co-wrote Fred Cavayé’s “Farewell, Mr.
Haffmann.” Kaminsky, who co-wrote the screenplay with novelist and screenwriter Niko Tackian, said the story grew directly out of a road trip she took through the U.S. with her husband and stepsons. There’s everything that is grandiose, these incredible spaces where suddenly everything feels very alive and you feel very small. And it’s also a country of contrasts.
Inevitably, that makes you want to invent stories,” she said. She was also inspired by Coen brothers movies. There’s tenderness too.” The movie ultimately “talks about love,” she said.
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