“Unforgettable” is the first film in the director’s chair for veteran producer Denise Di Novi (“Crazy, Stupid, Love,” “Focus”). Rosario Dawson (the “Sin City” films), Katherine Heigl (“27 Dresses,” “Knocked Up”) and Geoff Stults (TV’s “The Odd Couple”) star in the dramatic thriller.
Tessa Connover (Heigl) is barely coping with the end of her marriage when her ex-husband, David (Stults), becomes happily engaged to Julia Banks (Dawson)—not only bringing Julia into the home they once shared but also into the life of their daughter, Lily.
Trying to settle into her new life, Julia believes she has finally met the man of her dreams, the man who can help her put her own troubled past behind her. But Tessa’s jealousy soon takes a pathological turn until she will stop at nothing to turn Julia’s dream into her ultimate nightmare.
What lengths would you go to for love?
For director/producer Denise Di Novi, that is the question at the heart of her new suspense thriller “Unforgettable.” She offers, “The story intrigued me because it’s about two very different women thrown into a complicated blended family relationship. They each feel tremendous pressure—one to create the perfect life, the other to hold on to it. That pressure drives one to madness, while the other is forced to find the strength to fight for her life. I thought that would make for a very intense thriller.”
When they meet, the two women at the center of the story are at separate crossroads. Despite being divorced for years, Tessa has never accepted that her marriage is over, secretly believing that she and her ex-husband, David, were meant to someday reconcile.
But that hope is dashed by the arrival of her ex’s new fiancée, Julia, who is leaving behind a traumatic past and embarking on a new life with David.
Producer Alison Greenspan relates, “Julia has emerged from a very dark period and is finally at a place where she feels like she’s found her fairytale prince—a guy who’s caring and treats her with kindness and respect. What she doesn’t know is that his ex-wife is going to be way more than she bargained for.”
“Julia soon finds out her dream guy does not have a dream ex-wife,” Di Novi affirms. “At first, Tessa appears to be making an effort, but as time goes on, their relationship gets more and more tense…and more and more scary.”
“On the one hand, the film is a thrill ride and we love watching the crazy unfurl,” says Greenspan. “On the other hand, it works on a deeper level wherein we question what happens when the way in which we define ourselves—as a spouse, a mother, a partner—is challenged. What happens when we lose the identity we so carefully crafted for ourselves and then are lost without it?”
Katherine Heigl, who stars as Tessa, reflects, “You can’t help but wonder, ‘What would I do if my husband and I got divorced and he moved on with someone else?’ ‘How would I behave in that circumstance?’ I hope I’d handle it with some dignity, but it would still be heartbreaking. It is the death of all the dreams you had for your family and your future together and, unfortunately, that sends Tessa right over the edge.”
Starring as Julia, Rosario Dawson says that, by contrast, the dream is just beginning for her character. “You’re catching Julia at that ‘pinch me’ moment when she’s happy and in love. She is excited about the steps she is taking to build a new life, but because of everything she’s gone through before, it’s hard for her to trust in it and not wonder when the other shoe is going to drop. I was rooting for her because I know how that feels, and I think anyone could understand what that might be like.”
The main cast of “Unforgettable” also included veteran television and film star Cheryl Ladd, Whitney Cummings, Simon Kassianides, Isabella Kai Rice and Robert Ray Wisdom.
This film has been rated R for sexual content, violence, some language, and brief partial nudity.
Photos courtesy of Warner Brothers
