At New York City’s IFC Center, director Katie Aselton released her new film Magic Hour, following its SXSW Festival premiere. The film follows Erin, played by Aselton herself, and Charlie, portrayed by Daveed Diggs. The pair are working through an extremely devastating time in their relationship and decide to embark on a retreat to California’s Joshua Tree National Park, where all the emotional weight that both of them have been carrying finally comes to a head and can’t be ignored any longer.
Magic Hour presents its narrative in a way that’s both grounded and intimate, and simultaneously very surreal and dreamy. The blur between reality and imagination plays with both the audience’s perception of the story alongside the characters themselves. Rather than approaching some of these topics in a more conventional way, Magic Hour frames the concepts more as a question of how Erin must come to terms of how to deal with this realization on her own. Without giving away any of the main plot details, the struggle inevitably has to be a reality she faces by herself.
Magic Hour is a visually stunning film as well. Aselton takes full advantage of the desert landscape, capturing the isolation and remoteness of Joshua Tree. Despite its short runtime, only clocking in at 80 minutes, Magic Hour feels like a complete experience. The film’s atmosphere and message will definitely sit with viewers for longer than it took to watch the film itself.
Both of the lead actors’ performances in this film help in driving it home and making the whole situation feel lived-in and believable as well. Katie Aselton & Daveed Diggs paint the picture of a loving couple with real history, trying to work together to overcome a bigger challenge than anything they’ve faced before. Magic Hour uses its surreal attributes to tell an extremely human story about learning how to let go in a healthy way.
After the film, director Katie Aselton joined her husband and co-writer Mark Duplass alongside star Daveed Diggs for a Magic Hour post-screening discussion. They spoke about how the film was crafted while working with an extremely small budget and emphasized the importance of seeing independent films in theaters. Aselton & Duplass also mentioned how thrilled they were to incorporate Daveed Diggs musical talents into the film. Diggs, who is best known for his work in the smash hit Broadway show Hamilton, put his abilities to use in Magic Hour, despite admitting during the discussion that he usually avoids taking on singing roles in his recent projects. Duplass joked that if he knew it had been so difficult to convince him maybe he would’ve approached it more delicately. The trio discussed in-depth how intimate it was to work within such a small space, and the movie was only shot over the course of two weeks. Even within those restraints, they could also only shoot during certain times to preserve the movie’s atmosphere. Magic Hour is a passion project from everyone involved, and it was very interesting getting to hear the care that went into even the smallest of details. The film is a memorable experience and definitely one worth seeing in theaters
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