Adapted from Lauren Oliver’s successful Ya novel of the same name, director Ry Russo-Young’s fourth feature Before I Fall sees the indie director (Nobody Walks, You Wont Miss Me, Orphans) successfully transitioning to mainstream filmmaking. The story of a popular high school senior (Zoey Deutch, from Dirty Grandpa) caught in a time loop that forces her to relive a crucial day in her life over and over, this neatly written Heathers-meets-Groundhog Day high-concept package delivers both technical polish and a toothsome yet likeable cast. Better still, it has just enough tragic edge to draw young adults, and young-at-heart adults, with...
- 1/23/2017
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ry Russo-Young walked away from the 2012 Sundance Festival with a Jury Prize for “Nobody Walks,” a feature she both wrote and directed, capping a string of relatively successful indie features. She starred in and co-wrote Joe Swanberg’s “Hannah Takes the Stairs,” wrote, directed and edited “Orphans,” and wrote, directed, edited and produced 2009’s “You Won’t Miss Me”…there’s no doubting the talents of this young filmmaker. Well, flash-forward just over a year and Russo-Young looks to be benefitting from that Sundance success. Bravo have put a supernatural drama project into development which was written by Russo-Young and playwright Dorothy Fortenberry. “Witch Hunt” will be set in a reimagined New York City and will follow a single mother who lands a job at a leading cosmetics company only to discover that the company is actually just a cover for a coven of witches. That’s sadly all we know about it so far,...
- 3/28/2013
- by Joe Cunningham
- The Playlist
BAMcinemaFest is now in full swing and Brooklyn cinephiles are getting a chance to sample some of the films they might have missed at Sundance, Cannes and SXSW. Though the festival is already halfway over, there are still plenty of interesting films coming up, including So Yong Kim’s “For Ellen,” Josh Radnor’s “Liberal Arts” and Craig Zobel’s “Compliance” among others. Check out the full line-up here. One of the highlights of the fest so far has been Ry Russo-Young’s “Nobody Walks.” The dramedy centers on young artist Martine (Olivia Thirlby) who comes to stay in the pool house of a Los Angeles family while she completes her short film. The family includes sound designer Peter (John Krasinski), his wife Julie (Rosemarie DeWitt), a therapist, and teenage daughter Kolt (India Ennenga) who are all affected in one way or another by their new houseguest.
Featuring strong performances...
Featuring strong performances...
- 6/27/2012
- by Cory Everett
- The Playlist
When speaking to Ry Russo-Young, the adjective "abstract" will come up a lot in conversation in terms of the style of her films. But that shouldn't be confused with the substance, which is so emotionally precise. Where many filmmakers have depicted the fear and uncertainty of twentysomethings with quirk and gorgeously lit indifference, Russo-Young portrays it in a grainy haze in her latest film "You Wont Miss Me," the result of her practical use of a variety of formats, ranging from Flip cams to Super 8s, and the world-weary skepticism of her main character Shelly Brown (Stella Schnabel) that rarely allows for clarity.
As refreshingly tough-minded a character study as Brown is a character, the film was born out of Russo-Young's desire to do something with Schnabel, a friend since elementary school, and developed from a three-hour interview where Schnabel first portrayed the wild, eternally frustrated Shelly into a loose-knit...
As refreshingly tough-minded a character study as Brown is a character, the film was born out of Russo-Young's desire to do something with Schnabel, a friend since elementary school, and developed from a three-hour interview where Schnabel first portrayed the wild, eternally frustrated Shelly into a loose-knit...
- 12/8/2010
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
Something of a prodigy even before she made her first feature, Manhattan native Ry Russo-Young (Orphans) had an early apprenticeship in the medium, studying visual arts and drama at Oberlin College and Yale, respectively, before putting in some time at the Lee Strasberg Institute and Nyu’s Tisch School of the Arts. Russo-Young eventually directed the short film Marion, a multi-screen deconstruction of scenes from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho enacted by three actresses, which won the 2005 Silver Hugo Award for best experimental short film at the Chicago International Film Festival. Two years later, she debuted Orphans, an emotionally wrenching drama about two twentysomething sisters, estranged since the death of their parents, reuniting at the family’s isolated country-getaway house in the midst of winter. The film, produced and co-edited by Russo-Young’s mentor Amir Naderi (A.B.C…, Manhattan), made a splash on the American independent scene, picking up a Special Jury Award at…...
- 12/8/2010
- by Damon Smith
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
This review originally ran as part of our coverage of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
"You Wont Miss Me" is all about Shelly Brown, a girl with the kind of problems plenty of 20-somethings dream of moving to New York for the express purpose of having: substance abuse, reckless hookups in her bedraggled Williamsburg apartment with shaggy boys who mistreat her, sudden fights with friends and strangers, an unseen actress mother who doesn't pay her enough attention, and no job beyond auditioning for roles herself. But the film, the second from director Ry Russo-Young, isn't your average chronicle of dabblings in urban self-destruction, because Shelly, as she's begun to realize herself, can't turn down the volume. She's not crazy -- the film is structured around fractions of her exit interview with the psychiatrist tossing from a mental hospital because she doesn't belong there -- but she's the kind of person who...
"You Wont Miss Me" is all about Shelly Brown, a girl with the kind of problems plenty of 20-somethings dream of moving to New York for the express purpose of having: substance abuse, reckless hookups in her bedraggled Williamsburg apartment with shaggy boys who mistreat her, sudden fights with friends and strangers, an unseen actress mother who doesn't pay her enough attention, and no job beyond auditioning for roles herself. But the film, the second from director Ry Russo-Young, isn't your average chronicle of dabblings in urban self-destruction, because Shelly, as she's begun to realize herself, can't turn down the volume. She's not crazy -- the film is structured around fractions of her exit interview with the psychiatrist tossing from a mental hospital because she doesn't belong there -- but she's the kind of person who...
- 12/6/2010
- by Alison Willmore
- ifc.com
Lena Dunham: It doesn't really lend itself to a concise logline, so tell us a bit about the film.
Ry Russo-young: You Won't Miss Me is a kaleidoscopic portrait of a person named Shelly Brown, seen in many lights, and on many formats. She's just been released from a psychiatric hospital. You're not sure exactly how long she's been there, but you see her reintegration into society. It all takes place in New York-it's a very New York movie, about the juxtaposition between how we see ourselves and how we operate in the world.
Ld: It is very New York, populated with old-school downtown character-types. Can you talk a little bit about the casting, particularly Stella in the lead?
Rr: For this movie I just wanted to cast people I thought were really interesting and believable. And it didn't matter if they were actors or non-actors or musicians or performers.
Ry Russo-young: You Won't Miss Me is a kaleidoscopic portrait of a person named Shelly Brown, seen in many lights, and on many formats. She's just been released from a psychiatric hospital. You're not sure exactly how long she's been there, but you see her reintegration into society. It all takes place in New York-it's a very New York movie, about the juxtaposition between how we see ourselves and how we operate in the world.
Ld: It is very New York, populated with old-school downtown character-types. Can you talk a little bit about the casting, particularly Stella in the lead?
Rr: For this movie I just wanted to cast people I thought were really interesting and believable. And it didn't matter if they were actors or non-actors or musicians or performers.
- 6/16/2009
- Interview Magazine
This post is part of a series of brief, email interviews that we're conducting with select filmmakers who are showing work at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. All of our Sundance 2009 coverage lives here. Ry Russo-Young, whose first feature Orphans was recently released on DVD by Carnivalesque Films, makes her first trip to Sundance next week with You Won't Miss Me. Described as a "kaleidoscopic narrative", this New Frontiers section selection stars Stella Schnabel (daughter of Julian) and incorporates a wide variety of formats, including 16mm film and 1-chip video. You can check out the <a ...
- 1/6/2009
- by Karina Longworth
- Spout
This post is part of a series of brief, email interviews that we're conducting with select filmmakers who are showing work at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. All of our Sundance 2009 coverage lives here. Ry Russo-Young, whose first feature Orphans was recently released on DVD by Carnivalesque Films, makes her first trip to Sundance next week with You Won't Miss Me. Described as a "kaleidoscopic narrative", this New Frontiers section selection stars Stella Schnabel (daughter of Julian) and incorporates a wide variety of formats, including 16mm film and 1-chip video. You can check out the <a href=" ...
- 1/6/2009
- by Karina Longworth
- Spout
The latest release from Carnivalesque Films, the DVD initiative spearheaded by filmmakers David Redmon and Ashley Sabin, hits stores (and Amazon, etc) today. It's Orphans, Ry Russo-Young's debut feature, which premiered and won a Jury Prize at the SXSW Film Festival in 2006. It's a family horror film of sorts, about two estranged sisters who get together for one weekend of boozy recollection and reconnection gone wrong. I've written about t ...
- 9/30/2008
- by Karina Longworth
- Spout
Ry Russo-Young, who many will remember from her role in Joe Swanberg's Hannah Takes the Stairs, was a prize winner at two of the last three SXSWs - she won the jury award for best experimental film for her Psycho deconstruction Marion at the 2006 fest and shared a special jury prize for Orphans at the 2007 edition. Orphans hits DVD next week via David Redmon and Ashley Sabin's brand new label Carnivalesque Films. She chatted with us this week about Why Does Herr R Run Amok?, what working with the band "The Virgins" on her new film <a hre ...
- 9/22/2008
- by Brandon Harris
- Spout
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