Make your reservation for Episode 145 of The Boo Crew! You just double booked with writer / director Dave Franco (Neighbors / Now You See Me) and actor Sheila Vand (A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night) for a chat about their new film The Rental available now on VOD, digital and select drive in theaters.

The story follows two couples, played by Vand, Jeremy Allen White, Alison Brie and Dan Stevens, who book a weekend vacation at an oceanside getaway only to uncover some dark, sinister secrets. This film is such a fun exercise in tension and is a layered cake of anxiety on many levels where Franco creates a situation for his characters that is so volatile, right from the first scene, that everything could get crazy at any moment if just one tiny misstep is made. We had an exhilarating time with it.

“The first half of the film is really about these characters, but we didn’t want it to feel like two separate movies,” Franco explains on describing the mounting uneasiness, “We were very conscious about making sure that there was, just this dread underneath everything even when there was nothing overtly scary happening on screen. We added some kind of voyeuristic shots throughout that first half of the film where you’re reminded that yes, there are all of these issues between the characters but maybe there is this outside force creeping in too.”

Shelia describes working on the film with Franco, here in his feature length directorial debut, whose broad experience as an actor gave him a unique shorthand in working with this tremendous ensemble cast.

“There’s so many benefits. I just felt like he not only respected our process more intrinsically and deeply but also knew how to talk to us in a way that just felt like it was cutting right through. Where as sometimes I think you are taught as a director to not tell an actor what to do directly. There’s the weird thing of, don’t give a line reading or kind of walking on egg shells around it so that you help THEM figure it out. I’m not one of those actors that’s into that. I just wanna know what you want and to get there fast. Because Dave knew exactly what he wanted it was really easy and I think, probably being an actor, whatever I brought, he knows what it takes first hand to bring that..to get there. It made me feel valued in a way I don’t always feel valued.”

Dave also lets us in on coming up with the initial story idea.

“It was all inspired by my own paranoia about the concept of home sharing! Just thinking about the fact that the country is as divided as it’s ever been and no one trusts each other yet we trust staying in the home of a stranger simply because of a few positive reviews online. The truth is, while we were filming the movie, there were articles coming out every week about homeowners who had hidden cameras in their places. All that being said, I still use all of the home sharing apps. In fact I was staying in an Air BnB while filming this movie! I think I was just trying to explore that disconnect where we all aware of the risks of staying in a stranger’s home, but we don’t think anything will actually happen to us.”

Shelia discusses her thoughts on the genre and where films like this are taking it.

“Growing up I was scared of horror movies, I’m a total scaredy cat in real life. I’m such a chicken. It wasn’t until later that I realized that having a safe space to be scared was actually very useful for me. I will say that I still like being IN horror movies more than I like watching them. I still get so scared and I feel like being IN them I get to feel some sense of control over my fear. This new wave of indie horror movie filmmakers got me re-excited for it. The Babadook and Hereditary and these movies that take their time with the horror. They’re not just exploitation of our fears but really kind of an exploration of our fears.”

For more with Dave Franco and Sheila Vand including their own vacation horror stories, the unique sonic world of The Rental, and Shelia’s work on the amazingly original vampire flick, Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, check out The Boo Crew Podcast Episode 145. Available now on Apple, Spotify and everywhere you get your podcasts!

Follow Sheila Vand on:

Instagram: @dontworryitssheila

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Instagram: @talesfromtheboocrew
Twitter: @talesfromtheboo