When it comes to playing men burdened with the weight of the world on their shoulders, few are better than David Oyelowo, just look at his emotional performances in Selma and HBO's Nightingale for examples. Now he takes on another such role in the drama, Five Nights in Maine, which sees him paired up with Oscar winner, Dianne Wiest in what looks to be a powerful combination.
Written and directed by Maris Curran, the film stars Oyelowo as a husband grieving over the death of his wife, with whom he left many important things unsaid. Wiest plays his mother-in-law who invites him up to Maine to hash out their many differences, not the least of which is how they are coping with the loss.
The film was shot over the course of 19 days entirely in the state of Maine, and the location proves integral to the story. Curran tells EW...
“It’s a ruggedly beautiful place, and it’s also the poorest, whitest place in the northeast. It’s a landscape where a character like David’s could find solace while also feeling quite alien.”
Oyelowo adds...
“We were in very remote, very beautiful Maine. And you could go a long way and not see another person of color. People notice when you’re there as a black person. And part of the backdrop of the story is that my character and Dianne Wiest’s character are very different people with different experiences, but they have this one huge element of their lives in common. My character’s wife happened to be her daughter. That is the only connection they have, but it’s very real. And that was a very ripe circumstance for drama to ensue.”
Also starring Rosie Perez and Teyonah Parris, Five Nights in Maine hits theaters and VOD on August 5th.
