Filmmaker Chase Joliet is tackling complex themes in his feature directorial debut,Grapefruit. Among them: divorce, addiction, recovery, and starting over. Joliet also penned the indie film and stars alongside wife Stephanie Barkley and BAFTA Award winnerRosanna Arquette.Grapefruitcenters on Joliet’s character, Travis Williams, who, following a devastating divorce, is forced to move into his childhood home with his eccentric, newly sober mother, Evelyn (portrayed by Arquette). While attending an AA meeting with Evelyn, Travis meets the wildly alive Billie (Stephanie Barkley). Against his mother’s wishes (who says Billie is “just bad news”), he develops a friendship with her, pushing everyone to look beyond their shortcomings and accept each other for who they are and where they’ve been.
A newly released trailer gives us a first glimpse at the heartfelt feature, which makes its world premiere at the Austin Film Festival on October 27. Check it out below.
As the trailer shows,Grapefruitaddresses some of life’s most difficult experiences, like addiction and divorce, while holding on to optimism that there’s a road forward. Travis urges his mother to “get out into the world” despite her troubles and asks her to come to terms with the fact that “we’re all a little broken, every one of us,” before encouraging her “to get out and fly.”
Although substance abuse and recovery have been explored in films for decades, it remains a difficult topic to cover, always calling for filmmakers' sensitivity andthe ability to present a realistic portrayal. In an interview with local publicationTracy Press(Grapefruitwas filmed by a 16-person crew in Tracy, California), producer Brooke Dooley said:
“We delve into the experience of recovery from addiction and self-acceptance, so it’s an important film to talk about recovery and how people experience it differently."
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Chase Joliet’s Grapefruit Heads to the Austin Film Festival
Joliet is an actor and filmmaker from Dallas, Texas, who collaborated with director Terrence Malick for a number of years onTo the Wonder,Voyage of Time, andSong to Songand served as a producer (and appeared in) Trey Edward Shults' critically acclaimed 2015 drama Krisha. He also worked with Shults on the 2017 A24 horror filmIt Comes at Night,serving as an assistant producer and appearing in the film. Jolie’s directorial debut, the 2018 shortEverything Mattress, earned the audience award for Narrative Short at the 2018 Austin Film Festival. Through a recent social media post, Joliet shared the short in honor ofGrapefruit’supcoming world premiere at this year’s festival.
Now in its 30th year, the Austin Film Festival looks to further the art and craft of storytelling by inspiring and championing the work of writers, filmmakers, and all artists who use written and visual language to tell a story. Along with Joliet’sGrapefruit, other notable titles in this year’s festival include Academy Award winnerEmerald Fennell’sSaltburn, which was chosen as the festival’s opening night selection, and stars Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, and Rosamund Pike; and Lena Headey’s feature directorial debut,The Trap, lead by Headey’sGame of Thronesco-star Michelle Fairley.
