‘It Doesn’t Matter’ First Look: Christopher Abbott Floats Through Surreal Meta Dramedy
Samantha Bergeson
Christopher Abbott is returning to his indie roots and reuniting with his 2015 filmmaking collaborator Josh Mond for upcoming feature “It Doesn’t Matter.”
Abbott, who recently appeared in “Poor Things” and is set to lead Universal’s “Wolfman,” stars opposite Jay Will in the dramedy revolving around the redemptive relationship between a lost man from Staten Island and a young filmmaker.
“It Doesn’t Matter” premieres at the ACID programming section, run by France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (ACID) and takes place parallel to the Cannes Film Festival. “It Doesn’t Matter” is writer/director Mond’s first movie since his breakout Sundance 2015 directorial debut “James White,” which also starred Abbott.
In addition to directing, Mond previously produced Sean Durkin’s “Martha Marcy May Marlene” and Antonio Campos’ “Simon Killer.” “It Doesn’t Matter” is his sophomore film.
Mond teased “It Doesn’t Matter” to IndieWire in 2015, saying that while the project was “still a fragment” at the time, he had plans for the plot.
“I wanna make movies that I want to go see, and I think with ‘James White’ I did that. It starts out like, ‘Oh, this dude’s crazy, and sort of fun.’ And then in the middle, it flips, it’s like, ‘Oh, what?’ And then at the end you’re just like, ‘Oh, fuck,'” Mond said. “I like movies like that where I’m excited, and then at the end you just take a deep breath. It was hard making this movie, really hard, and after it I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t wanna do this again.’ But you saw tonight [at the AFI screening], people are feeling something. And that’s what I want as a viewer.”
The full ACID lineup includes nine world premieres, three of which are documentaries. Highlights range from Iair Said’s drama “Most People Die On Sundays” to Guillaume Brac’s documentary “Ce n’est qu’un au revoir.”
French films include Mona Convert’s “A Fireland,” Hélène Milano’s “Chateau Rouge,” Marcia Romano and Benoit Sabatier’s “Fotogenico,” with Maisam Ali’s “In Retreat” an Indian and French co-production. The program is rounded out by “Kyuka – Before Summer’s End” directed by Kostis Charamountanis and Camila Beltrán’s “Mi Bestia.”
The Cannes-adjacent ACID program was launched in 1992 and has showcased early features from Justine Triet, Kaouther Ben Hania, Radu Jude, Guy Maddin, Robert Guediguian, and more filmmakers.
More buzzy Cannes titles include “Saltburn” co-stars Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi leading two Cannes features with Keoghan cast in Andrea Arnold’s “Bird” and Elordi in Paul Schrader‘s “Oh, Canada.” Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” and George Miller’s “Furiosa” will also both debut at the festival.
