Sandy Kenyon reviews ‘Miss You Already’

“I really can not stand heavy films right now at this point in my life”, she said. Things just took off and we got along so well, which behooved the movie because these girls just have great chemistry. Is your upcoming Christmas movie “Krampus” a comedy or a horror film? The world turns, and it doesn’t really matter how smart your shoes are. Since its protagonists are two women in their 30s, it will probably be labelled as a film about female friendship, but surely its central observation is just as true of male friendships.

The idea that women’s relationships can be so complex is what drew Collette and Barrymore to the project in the first place, something we learned when we caught up with the two actresses at the Toronto global Film Festival.

I also think it’s an archaic idea. I think “chick flick” has negative connotations because it sounds like men aren’t welcomed. That’s what you want in a friend; when you’re having a tough time, the other person will lift you back up. This problem has dogged Hardwicke (Twilight) since her debut feature, 2003’s Thirteen, turned the trials of adolescence into cause for mass hysteria. The last time we talked, you were very outspoken about gender and pay inequality in Hollywood. What can the choices in life mean for death? Any decision the producers make really impacts the film. There’s all the street art, and we added a few of the graffiti and murals in the movie.

Your character, Milly, is kind of hard to love. As you mentioned one of the attractive things that arises a lot of times in struggles like this is love and friendship and ultimately a love story. She’s intensely selfish and charismatic. It culminates in a disastrous jaunt to the Moors with Jess, an ill-advised dalliance, and even more ill-advised belting of “Losing My Religion”. The disease tests Milly’s marriage and relationships with her mother (Jacqueline Bisset) and her best friend, Jess. She’s that kind of gal.

With two female stars, a female director (Catherine Hardwicke), and a female writer (Morwenna Banks), you’d expect authenticity in the portrayal of female friendship. You had a basic landscape, but you never knew where you were going to go. Everything is either very, very high budget or very, very low budget. And if there’s such a chasm, and a desire to fill that chasm with more films for women, then hopefully this will be one of them. I managed, but many of you will not.

She’s been doing it for so bloody long.

Have you thought about producing? Sorry. Here. I like – the sun will actually come out tomorrow. But now I have. I have a production company.

Toni Colette’s character writes, “I want to fear nothing”. And what was previously just tiresome becomes just a little bit offensive. This was something I really wanted to be able to show my girls when they’re older. “I’m so exhausted of that”, she says bluntly. That was what the film required too; these women are not heavy with each other. It looks like you’re about to become pretty visible again.

My kids are in school now. I also shot scenes with an Indiecam, which allowed me to be very intimate with the actors, as well as a 5D and an Alexa camera.