Brittany Snow’s latest movie has her behind the camera for the first time for Parachute. The romantic drama about a young woman navigating her life after leaving rehab treatment for her eating disorder debuted at the SXSW Film Festival last month to numerous accolades. Ahead of Parachute’s theatrical release this weekend, CinemaBlend spoke to Snow about her turn to directing and how one of her Pitch Perfect co-stars was involved.
Snow isn’t the first of her Pitch Perfect cast to make the move to directing in recent years. Her co-star Elizabeth Banks actually helmed her first feature film by taking up 2015’s Pitch Perfect 2 before going on to direct action movies like Charlie’s Angels and Cocaine Bear. Additionally, Anna Kendrick showed her first movie as a director, Woman of the Hour, at the Toronto International Film Festival last year (a premiere she had to miss due to the strikes) ahead of its release later this spring. When I asked Brittany Snow if she’s spoken to either of them about taking on the new title, she said this:
Yeah, I’ve been really lucky that Kendrick is a good friend of mine and I was in the edit when she was prepping her movie, and we really kind of went back and forth on things that we were doing or if she needed, you know, she doesn’t need any of my advice, so it’s not necessarily about that, but it was quite of sort of like picking each other’s brains on a couple things, which was cool. And I find that really special that I have women in my life that I’m friends with that I can go to in that way, that we’re doing similar things and rooting for each other in that way. And it just makes me really proud of us as a collective that we had this crazy experience more than 10 years ago and now we’re moving into a different phase together in a way.
Aww, how sweet is it that the Barden Bellas are staying connected?! Pitch Perfect shook the world over a decade ago when the first movie hit theaters in 2012 and became one of the highest-grossing music comedies of all time. Kendrick and Snow would go on to make two more sequels together as Beca and Chloe, concluding the film series back in 2017.
As the Pitch Perfect movies remain some of the best Brittany Snow movies to watch, perhaps a new chapter of her career has just begun with Parachute. The earnest film, which she also wrote and produced, earned Snow the Thunderbird Rising Special Award at SXSW when it premiered at the fest. Parachute stars Yellowjackets’ Courtney Eaton as Riley, who forms a powerful, but complex relationship with Thomas Mann’s Ethan after leaving rehab for her eating disorder and body image struggles. When I asked the new director about the challenges involved in telling the story, she said this:
I really set myself up for quite the challenge to do a movie about a niche topic that a lot of people don’t necessarily relate to, understand or want to watch. I wanted to make sure that it was still romantic and also able to be seen and watched even though you haven’t maybe gone through these experiences and have it to be a movie for everyone. And I think, the battle of my own mind through it was really interesting too because I so wanted it to be authentic and honest, but also not gratuitous and not didactic, not preachy or after school special in any way. And riding that line of showcasing something or showing or giving a sneak peek into someone’s mind without it seeming gratuitous or shoving it down anyone’s throat or any sort of message was I think the hardest part to maintain.
Along with Eaton and Mann fronting the cast, Parachute also stars the likes of Gina Rodriguez, Dave Bautista, Joel McHale and Kid Cudi. Oh, and there’s one more Pitch Perfect connection to note. Look out for Chrissie Fit, who played Flo in the two Pitch Perfect sequels. We love to see how Brittany Snow enlisted the help and support of the Barden Bellas for her buzzy directorial debut. Parachute hits theaters on April 5 and VOD on April 12.