 |
| Reeling |
Director Yana Alliata's feature début, Reeling, unfolds during a Hawaiian luau celebration. Ryan (Ryan Wuestewald), who suffered a traumatic brain injury and has been living with his mother, returns to the family homestead to celebrate his sister Meg's (Nikki DeParis) birthday. He struggles to fit in with family and friends, especially his brother John (Hans Christopher). As the birthday celebrations unfold, Ryan begins to recover memories from the day of his tragic accident.
Alliata's previous credits include 2011's Requiem For Emily, about a grief stricken husband who confronts his own mortality after the death of his wife; 2017's Rush, which mixes the paranormal with a hazing prank gone wrong; and 2024's interrogation drama, Portrait Of A Grieving Housewife.
Alliata, alongside Ryan Wuestewald, Hans Christopher and Nikki DeParis spoke to Eye For Film about their individual and collaborative experiences of making a film with personal undertones. They discussed the appeal of the challenging and confrontational material, treating emotions with dignity and respect, and the desire to capture the essence of the real Hawaii.
Paul Risker: Going back to the beginning, what was the seed of the idea for Reeling?
Yana Alliata: I grew up on Oʻahu. I'm from there and Hawaii obviously has a very special place in my heart. I always knew that I wanted to shoot my first feature in Hawaii. It came at this perfect moment a few years ago when I was a guest at one of my very close friend's birthday luaus. We were on his family's property out on the northeast side of Oʻahu, and it all hit me over the course of the events of that birthday luau that I wanted to capture this environment, this place and the essence of the Hawaii that I know and that I experience. And not the Hawaii that I often see on TV shows or in bigger blockbusters, but really something more specific and nuanced.
I knew the way to do that would be to work with family and friends that are from there, and to work with non-trained actors as well as trained actors.
Going back to the genesis, there were several events that happened over the course of that luau. One moment in particular was during the Hawaiian food blessing. There was a reaction that was quite inappropriate. That really became the genesis of the story about a lead character struggling with a traumatic brain injury and being at odds with his environment and the people around him. Although that is a completely fictionalised part of the story.
PR; To the cast, when you first read the script, what was it that appealed to you about this project?
Ryan Wuestewald: Yana sent me the project, and I was excited about it for a few different reasons. One being that the character that she wanted me to play was very complex, and I wanted to take on that challenge. But also, just the storyline in general, which had these moments that are fighting against each other. There are a lot of combative elements in the storyline itself, and that's a really fascinating way to dive into the story. I also really enjoy stories that have big ideas that are told with a very small lens. This story in particular does that very well. It takes a moment of time but has these big ideas behind it.
Hans Christopher: When I first read this, there was definitely something that drew me to it and in a very terrifying kind of way. The roles that I love to play are the ones that are so far away where I can't feel what's right or wrong, so I can just dive in and go all the way.
In Reeling, I'm the oldest of three siblings and our father has passed away. We have a very similar dynamic in our family, and it was gonna have to have a lot of truth, and I think that, in a way, was very frightening for me. But there's also something about that that means it's the good stuff. It's where you need to go, and so, the second I saw this, I knew this was right and I'd got to do it. And it was a cool experience.
Nikki DeParis: I was, of course, drawn to it because Yana was directing, and I've gotten to work with her before. It was a really cool collaborative process, and I was also interested in the subtle family dynamics and the way that each sibling relates to each other. That was just something I was interested in tackling, and Meg is a very nuanced character because she is grappling with her hope that is slowly dwindling away and her relationship with Ryan that's changing throughout the course of the film. Figuring out that arc was something that was interesting for me and to make her more than just happy to be here; it's my birthday, and to instead create more of a journey for her, which was fun.
PR: What struck me about Reeling, was how I found myself in a constant state of conflict. In our adversarial society, there's a right and a wrong, and sympathy, even compassion, is a source of competition. Reeling attempts to find a more emotionally intelligent space, by taking us into the messiness of life and human relationships.
YA: I guess I am not a fan of the kind of black and white storytelling or black and white emotional spaces. A lot of things live in that grey area and something that was very important to me was capturing the subtle cruelties of social isolation.
People can struggle in social situations, whether it's because of anxiety or whether they have a disability or anything else that would make them feel uncomfortable. I often find that people mask discomfort with extreme politeness, and what I find fascinating is, in the beginning of the film, everyone's view on Ryan is quite welcoming and open. But they are treating him a little bit like a baby or a child, and they're walking on eggshells. And it's not cruel, right? But it is subtly cruel and disturbing in its own way.
That was very important because I don't like it when emotions are quickly portrayed as, okay, now this is anger, and this is sadness. It's a lot more complex and so, it was important to capture that. I tried to do this visually and with the score, in addition to these incredible performances that were able to give the entire range of the emotional spectrum.
HC: Life is messy for all of us, and we're so used to putting a bow on things, especially in storytelling. Diving into John was a journey of diving into myself, and I find myself going back to things with my family — saying things that I know I don't like that I'm saying or doing things I don't like that I'm doing or what I'm feeling. It's real and it's what really happens.
This film is so nuanced and has so many different things that are pulling you in these different directions, from the music to the way it's shot and the beauty of it, and the relationships and their dynamics. In life, there is no such thing as a good or bad ending either. Even with the best things, you're gonna go through something that counters that. It was a pleasure to be able to be a part of something that spoke in this way.
PR: The fishing story with Uncle Pat is an interesting scene because the audience's attention is split between the characters gathered together sharing stories, and Ryan, who quietly joins the group and tries to get his brother's attention. We never hear the end of the story because we trail off to follow Ryan and so their voices fade. This scene is an example of the film's creative playfulness in immersing the audience in the drama.
YA: The script was obviously a combination of scripted dialogue scenes for the heavier emotional scenes with our professional actors. Then, a lot of the scenes with the supporting cast, who were predominantly nonprofessional actors, I cast just for their personalities to shine, and for their true characters to come out.
These guys really do spend time surfing and fishing on the weekends and so these stories naturally come to them. That's exactly what would be happening at that moment when Ryan approached his brother to have a conversation.
So, it was about me communicating what we're going to do with my nonprofessional actors, who are very, very good friends of mine. I just wanted them to be at ease and to be themselves. We didn't do rehearsals because I didn't want the performances to be stilted or to feel stiff in any way. So, we would just roll.
During that scene, Uncle Pat was actually supposed to start with his fishing story. I found that my friend Galen is such a charismatic and naturally wonderful storyteller, and so he started telling a story that put another character in his place, but it's a real story.
I wanted to capture that authenticity and especially working with nonprofessional actors, to have them say something that's true to themselves. It was fun shooting that scene and then, of course, Hans and Ryan would have their marks of the actual scripted dialogue that they would need to hit.
HC; To add to that, it created an immersive element that was almost like a dance in the sense that you're feeling out what's happening. Your role is to just continue that feeling, but it's such a real, almost a documentary-like feeling — it was just something very different. It was like riding a wave versus, "Here's your line; hit your mark." This was much more about creating a flow, being immersive, and feeling things out. And it lent itself to some really interesting things.
PR: The consistent use of long takes creates a unique connection between the characters and the camera. There's almost a choreographed, dance like element to Reeling, that has a hypnotic vibe.
YA: We're telling a point of view story; we're telling a character study in a lot of ways, and so, following Ryan and getting into his mindset, which is a complete contrast with the environment that he's in, was very important.
I am a huge fan of Steadicam and long takes. I knew that for the opening of the film, when he first arrives at this place with these familiar faces, and he's going around reintroducing himself, and they're reintroducing to him, I wanted to pull off this long choreographed, I believe it's a six or seven minute take. It was also to establish the geography of our location, which is a character in and of itself. It can be quite confusing because there are almost three separate houses on the property, and so, to get our audience around, I thought we could pull this off with a continuous long shot through the entire property.
I loved that style, and I'm a huge Michael Haneke fan. His original Funny Games stuck with me when I first watched it when I was 17 years old and has influenced almost everything that I've done. But I've carried those lessons into Reeling. I love just holding when we can and also our executive producer, Werner Herzog, before his subjects even say something on screen, he has them sit in a moment of silence while the camera is rolling. He will sometimes just capture them looking out into space or looking down and being introspective of themselves.
Having a moment of not moving the camera or thinking about the setup can lend itself to a fresh and a different type of performance. So, I didn't quite do that specific technique, but I'm just using that as an example of his influence as well as an executive producer.
ND: I also really enjoy a long take because a few of us have theatre backgrounds, including myself. I have trained in theatre my whole life and being able to just go through the momentum of the scene over and over again, the whole scene, is a privilege as opposed to just getting little shots here and there. For me, the long takes allowed for a lot of fluidity and feeling things out on the spot.
HC: There was one moment, just to give it to Raf [cinematographer Rafael Leyva]. The camera was like another character in the way that it floated and found us. There was the scene digging the imu pit. On one of the takes, I'm digging as hard as I can — I'm just gonna keep going until I hear "cut." I get to a point where I'm physically ill; I'm exhausted, and I finally stop and put down the shovel. I turn around, and the camera is right there. It's that dance that we're talking about where something isn't planned exactly like that, but Raf saw that I was becoming exhausted, and he brought the camera right in there. It created such an interesting shot.
YA: A big part of the style and the approach of the film is having the right cinematographer and the right partner in crime to achieve that with you. We didn't have a close-up scripted, and I'd said, "I'm not going to cut in for a close-up, come on." Seeing Hans' performance and how drained and upset he was in this particular moment, it was Rafael who said, "Wait, let's go in for this close up."
That's when you feel blessed as a director. To find that perfect match with a cinematographer who pays attention and is present, who finds these beautiful moments, or the treasure or the emotionality of the scene, and is able to go in and make that decision on their own.
RW: Your partnership and the way you guys worked was actually exciting for us — watching you guys be like, "Okay, this is what we thought we were gonna do, but we just figured this out, so let's try this." It was a big collaboration, and it felt like it was constantly growing into something new. It wasn't exactly what it was on the page, and it became something exciting almost every time we shot.
PR: While we spend all this time getting to know the family, we're still left with unanswered questions. Memory plays a central role, acting as a disruptive antagonist in some ways, twisting revelations into questions and doubts. Reeling is an exploration of how memories, even missing memories, and the unreliability of memory shape our relationship to the self and our interpersonal relationships.
YA: Memory is not static, it's constantly changing. So, one can only imagine how much it is changing for someone in Ryan's position. The theme of memory is something that I have had in almost all of my films that I've done, especially one of the first films that I collaborated with Ryan on, called Barking For Emily.
It's fascinating how memory disintegrates over time for all of us, and even for John, how if you try to bottle something up for so long, then your memory can be affected by that.
PR: A director told me that the person you are before you start a film is different to the person you are when you finish a film. Is the creative process a transformative experience for you personally?
ND: Every character that I've played, I take a little piece of them with me when I'm done. Meg is really strong, and that is something that I feel like I took away with me. And also, the experience of getting to be with and getting to know everyone, like the supporting cast, Yana's friends and family. I left with that confidence that I could walk on a set and join in with these people that have been doing this and hanging out with each other their whole lives. I can find a way to join in and become part of that family. I was very nervous about feeling like I blended it, but it was very satisfying too.
RW: Empathy is a huge part of why we do what we do, and in each character that you portray or develop, you learn to empathise in a different way through that lens. So, when you do dive into these characters or get into work that explores these questions, you start to see the world through a different lens.
HC: I agree with both of those things, and even more so for me with this because it was so close to home. Getting to dive into these things, it gets to you. You can't help but see it in others, see it in yourself, see it in your families, and see it around you when you deal with something like this. So many of the films that we go and see don't dive in so much — everything is kind of out there. There's a plot, and there are things that happen. But this is really a journey into the human and how we can be so ruthless with each other sometimes.
Reeling premiered at the 2025 SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas.
