Actress Meganne Young is eager for the world to see more of her character, Rachel, asserting herself in THE KISSING BOOTH 2. In this follow-up to Netflix’s smash hit film, Rachel’s frequently cast as the third wheel in Lee (Joel Courtney) and Elle’s (Joey King) plutonic relationship. She’s fed up with the situation and attempts to set some healthy boundaries so that her romance with Lee can continue to mature. However, this goes as well as to be expected when the success of a long-term friendship with a mandated set list of rules is at stake.
When you were making the first film, did you have any idea that it would be as huge as it was and that there was a chance for a sequel?
Absolutely no idea, at all. It’s so crazy to think that Beth wrote this book when she was 15, we made a film and had a great time and then all carried on with our lives. We had no idea it would turn into a sequel, or be able to revisit these characters and have an opportunity to tell the story further. And no clue how intensely supportive the fans would be.
Since there was time in between shooting these films, was there an ease or a challenge to slipping back into your character’s skin?
When I first knew I was gonna go back, it did at the time, feel like, “Oh. I have to get back into that mentality.” Two years felt like a long time. I’d moved my whole life to Canada, because I’m from South Africa. So it did feel a little bit distant. But as soon as we all were face to face with each other and the ensemble was back together, that energy just felt like we snapped back into our family dynamics. It’s kind of like when you go home to visit your parents and you suddenly become 15 again.
You take your performance to some pretty emotional and resonant places. How was getting into that headspace during the shoot?
It was pretty draining. When you’re having a good cry about something it’s physically exhausting. I remember one day Joel and I had to do several scenes that weren’t necessarily connected. There was lots of wardrobe changes and cleaning up makeup and then we’d cry and put the makeup back on and then change the costume and do another scene.
Having such a great partnership with Joel, as actors and as friends, we both have similar styles and would stay in the emotion. We’d be quiet and respectful of one another. And when you’re being so vulnerable with one another, you want to feel safe. Joel definitely made me feel safe, so I felt I was in it with him and we got through it. I feel like the result is really beautiful and honest.
It’s important that Rachel’s predicament isn’t shown as the stereotypical “two women fight over a guy’s attention” trope. I’m wondering if that’s something you and Joey maybe worked with Vince on to nail?
It starts with the writing and Vince would have helmed that. When we were playing that, it was so enjoyable for both of us to tell the story of two very strong female characters who both have valid reasons for feeling the way that they feel and how that dynamic plays out, but also how much they value each other. There’s a respect there. Often we see women pitted against each other, or somebody is trying to steal the guy. We’ve seen it. That’s been done. This was really refreshing to play.
Meganne Young and Joel Courtneyin THE KISSING BOOTH 2. Courtesy of Netflix.
There’s a pretty fabulous costume montage in this. Did you have a favorite? How was being in that marshmallow costume?
[laughs] I loved the costume changes. It was a bit stressful because we were limited on time that day. Joey and I were tucking behind a desk type thing and the wardrobe people were helping shield us while we changed. I love costumes and getting a chance to dress up. That marshmallow – I know Rachel wasn’t that into it, but I friggin loved it. I was so happy when I read it in the script. “Yes, I’m so into this.” It’s not the most comfortable things I’ve ever worn, but it’s super fun to play with.
Did you have trouble sitting down in between takes?
Yeah. They had to sneak a little stool underneath and I’d sit there and pull my hands in, so it was just my little head on the outside. I couldn’t feed myself, or really drink anything. People had to help me. It was so much easy to stay in it rather than coming in and out since I had a headpiece on as well. I didn’t want to disrupt the beautiful work that my makeup artist had done. I just stayed in marshmallow mode the whole evening. So great.
Were you everyone’s tour guide since this filmed in your hometown?
It’s funny because it wasn’t really like that this time around. The others had been to Cape Town and had seen so many of the sights. It was more of the bonding of us going out and catching up as old friends. It felt less like they were visitors and more like locals. It definitely didn’t feel touristy this time around.
Since you’re now in one, did you have favorite teen romcoms growing up?
I mean, I still watch teen romcoms! [laughs] I watched THE HALF OF IT and really, really enjoyed that.
Will there be a third KISSING BOOTH? And would you like to return?
I feel like if the fans ask for it enough that Netflix might. I hope so, honestly. I would love to go back. I had the most incredible time shooting this one and love how the characters develop, so I am just as eager as where they could go to next and what that film could be. Unfortunately, I don’t know. If everyone wishes hard enough, it could happen.
Do you have ideas where you’d like to see Rachel wind up?
I feel like Rachel could take over the world, to be honest. I think she’s quiet and has an inner strength in her. Maybe running her own company, or maybe she’d own a restaurant. Sassy Rachel taking over the world!
THE KISSING BOOTH 2 begins streaming on Netflix on July 24.
Danny Trejo should be dead. That’s not hyperbole, though his face gives the impression that he’s not long for this world. Creased and pockmarked, heavy eye bags, and looking so worn, you basically assume that his last rights are about to be read.
As he explains in the documentary INMATE #1: THE RISE OF DANNY TREJO, he was serving a prison sentence at the infamous San Quentin prison, and a small riot broke out. He and a group of guys were throwing rocks at each other in the yard. Trejo accidentally hit a corrections officer and was taken to solitary along with the others. He made a silent plea to the Man Upstairs. Later, the officer couldn’t identify the prisoner who threw the rock, and no one came forward to claim Trejo did. That reprieve was the wake-up call he needed to change his life drastically.
Clearly not dead, Danny Trejo affords us many anecdotes like this one in Brett Harvey’s compelling documentary. Since everyone has a story to tell – and with the truth always being stranger than fiction – Trejo proves to be quite the character recounting his birth and upbringing in Pacoima, a low-income, Mexican-American neighborhood of Los Angeles. A little hellion whose father primed him to idolize John Wayne at an early age, it would be his Uncle Gilbert that would dramatically shape his future.
From hellraising to heroin use, Trejo’s life of armed robbery, drug abuse, and prison stints, is what we see in his weathered appearance. We don’t see (and what Harvey explores) how this fearsome-looking man with a stare that could strike a man dead at one hundred yards changed his ways and turned to drug counseling before becoming one of Hollywood’s unlikeliest character actors. That’s a character actor in the broadest sense of the phrase because he’s not concerned with being typecast.
Danny Trejo being interviewed in ‘INMATE #1.’ Courtesy photo.
Even the documentary’s title acknowledges the hard truth from showing up on set all tatted up. Before his breakout appearance in DESPERADO as a knife-wielding assassin (with his signature chest tattoo of a lady wearing a sombrero) who never spoke a word, Trejo was usually credited as “Prisoner,” “2nd Inmate,” or “Tattoo Artist.” Though, his brush with Hollywood was a total fluke.
He found himself in an abandoned factory (used as an interior set for the 1985 thriller RUNAWAY TRAIN). It had been converted to look like a prison. Someone asked him if he wanted to be extra. “An extra what?” Trejo responded. Soon after that, one of the screenwriters on set, ex-con Eddie Bunker (“Mr. Blue” in RESERVOIR DOGS), recognized Trejo from San Quentin and remembered he was the prison’s boxing champ. So, in a short span, Danny Trejo goes from extra to teaching star Eric Roberts how to box. Bringing an aura of authenticity to the picture (“You don’t know this about me, but these prison blues hang just right,” Trejo told filmmaker Andrey Konchalovskiy), this former prison inmate got paid to be, well, himself.
As he recalls his journey from the barrio to the big screen, interspersed between his jaunts around Pacoima are interviews from those who know him best. We hear from family members, co-stars that consider him a close friend, and even his security head, Craig Balkam. That’s correct. The guy who looks like the guy you don’t want to meet in a dark alley needs a little protection.
We also see him speaking at recovery meetings and groups of prisoners. Danny Trejo’s recollections of his time spent behind bars paint a vivid portrait of a life hardened by crime and punishment. After release, his sobriety offers hope to those he counsels in person, over the phone, and even by text. (Yes, Machete does text.)
Ah, Machete. His most identifiable role and the one that cemented his status as an icon. Michelle Rodriguez and director Robert Rodriguez do not lose the importance. Everyone knows Machete. One of his fans was former president Barack Obama.
Just like that, Danny went from inmate #1 to being #1 on the call sheet. Now with more than 350 credits to his name, far eclipsing the star he worshiped as a kid, this tough guy is still rising. This documentary attests to his reclamation to life on the outside.
Director Dave Franco’s THE RENTAL doesn’t do a whole heck of a lot to stray from expected formulas in a genre filled with remote cabins in the woods, ghosts of the past haunting the present and weirdo stalkers looking to murder youths gone wild. This horror-thriller, written by Franco and mumblecore king Joe Swanberg, centers on a celebratory weekend between two secretive couples souring and turning sinister once a mysterious voyeur makes himself an uninvited guest. While Big Sur’s jagged cliffs and inhospitable shoreline provide the perfect backdrop for the rocky relationships’ ruination, the dramatics hoping to catch these characters in an undertow are far less than powerful and fail to knock anyone off their feet. This is a dreadfully pointless picture.
After closing a big deal for their company, Charlie (Dan Stevens) and his work partner Mina (Sheila Vand) are looking to rent a vacation home hoping to surprise their significant others – Charlie’s personality-bereft wife Michelle (Alison Brie) and Mina’s quick-tempered boyfriend/ Charlie’s ex-convict brother Josh (Jeremy Allen White). And they’ve found a perfect one located in a fairly secluded hamlet. Well, almost perfect. The intense, casually racist caretaker Taylor (Toby Huss) doesn’t exactly get off on the right foot with his weekend tenants. Before their arrival, he’d suspiciously denied Mina’s rental application because of her Middle Eastern heritage. Mina and Josh have also broken the rental’s rules of no dogs allowed, smuggling their French Bulldog Reggie onto the property.
As the two pairs settle in for an uninhibited weekend of relaxation, they start to take stock of their relationships and life’s entanglements. Fissures in both couple’s romances appear. Michelle confesses to Josh she’s jealous of Mina working so close to her husband and Josh confesses to her about his co-dependency towards Mina. It also comes out that Charlie cheated a lot in his past so Michelle, who surprisingly is blindsided by this news, has reason to worry. When drugs are introduced into the mix, Charlie and Mina find themselves in a pickle.
Dan Stevens, Sheila Vand, Jeremy Allen White in THE RENTAL. Courtesy of IFC Films.
Franco finds unsettling power in static shots and dissolves, especially in the opening drive sequence, recalling THE SHINING’s drive to the Overlook Hotel. Further atmospheric tension is crafted through steadied close-ups where the creepy peeper is spying on the couples, his belabored breathing echoing in a cavernous divide. It’s also commendable that the filmmakers don’t kill the dog, given the film’s genre. However, he’s maddeningly neglected quite a few times and used as a device when needed.
There’s not much else that works successfully. Romantic discord dominates rather than the slasher shenanigans as the premise and trailer promise. This isn’t about the murderer’s kill count; instead it’s about how the slights they’ve caused each other have already killed their relationships. Though that’s an admirable sentiment, it’s ham-handedly executed in this genre mash-up. It becomes a chamber piece representing morality: Will their guilty consciences force them to confess their innermost feelings, or are these problems going to be repressed? Is a psychopathic murderer the problem, or will they figure out they’re actually the problem?
Not only do Franco and Swanberg lay down clichéd scenarios and predictable struggles for their characters to explore, they also employ obtuse red herrings and obvious breadcrumbs. Whether it be a missing telescope or a hot tub needing service, Taylor finds an excuse to return. There are moments where they try too hard to conjure fear, like when Mina and Josh find a suspicious locked storage area under the deck. Mina calls it “creepy.” It’s not. Lots of properties have owner’s closets that are off-limits to renters. The only difference is this one is outdoors. Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans’ score is tasked with the heavy lifting, surprising audiences with cheap jump scares, which aren’t the least bit scary.
Franco and Swanberg eschew traditional structure, seemingly free-forming their plot, character quirks and situational hijinks. It all builds to a unspectacular end – one that sequel-baits during the end credits. This proves particularly annoying, because if they had laid out their three acts properly, the picture wouldn’t drag in act two and would feel deeply satisfying in act three’s payoff. As is, this one won’t scare you into cancelling your Airbnb reservation. It’ll hardly terrify you enough to arm your home alarm.
Grade: D-
THE RENTAL opens in select drive-ins, theaters and on demand on July 24.
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