Brazilian filmmaker Karim Aïnouz‘s satirical black comedy thriller Rosebush Pruning made its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, where it competed for the prestigious Golden Bear. Written by Oscar-nominated writer Efthimis Filippou (The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer) the film is led by an all-star ensemble including Callum Turner (Eternity, Masters of the Air), Riley Keough (Under the Bridge, Daisy Jones & The Six), Jamie Bell (Half Man, All of Us Strangers), Lukas Gage (Companion, The White Lotus), Elena Anaya (The Skin I Live In, Wonder Woman) Tracy Letts (A House of Dynamite, Lady Bird), Elle Fanning (Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Sentimental Value), and Pamela Anderson (The Last Showgirl, The Naked Gun).
The MUBI release follows a wealthy family whose privilege and long-buried secrets unravel in increasingly outrageous fashion. Blending satire with family drama, Rosebush Pruning explores the absurdities of patriarchy through a visually rich and emotionally charged lens. Ahead of the film’s U.S. theatrical release on July 24, we spoke with Aïnouz about balancing satire and melodrama, assembling its remarkable cast, the fairy tale influences behind its striking visual style, and crafting a story that keeps audiences constantly off balance.
Since premiering in competition at Berlin, Rosebush Pruning has reached audiences around the world, with each screening bringing its own unique reactions. We asked Aïnouz what it’s been like witnessing those responses. “This one has been particularly exciting because as a filmmaker, you sort of calculate when the story takes turns and twists. [The movie] just goes places and it’s this roller coaster ride where you’re shifting gears and you’re shifting speed all the time. So for me, it’s been really interesting witnessing the different the reactions in the theater,” Aïnouz says.
He adds, “When [it screened] for the first time at the Berlin Film Festival, there was this whole thing throughout the screening where people didn’t know if they should laugh [or not]. They were [were thinking], is this funny, or should I not [be laughing]? Is this disgusting? Then there was a moment at the end where something really absurd happens and [I felt] all this repressed laughter [that was there] throughout the screening [and] it just exploded. It’s been a really interesting and rich experience to see a movie that’s so open [and one that] triggers different voltages within different audiences.”
Blending satire, dark comedy, thriller, and drama, Rosebush Pruning navigates several tones. Aïnouz explains the challenge of creating a satire that remains emotionally grounded while exploring the humanity and vulnerability behind the characters: “What’s beautiful about the material on the page is that you can take it in many different ways. It’s almost like you have a play that has elements that are there, it’s in the DNA of absurdity and the satire elements, but there’s different ways you can mold it and different ways you can develop it. I think for me, the big challenge [was that] we know how to do a satire; it’s wide shot, characters are sort of deadpan, they have almost like a disembodied sense of being there.”
“For me, I wanted to do the opposite because I think there’s been so many movies about the super wealthy that are looking at them from afar, or they’re maybe judging them. It was really important to engage with [the characters],“ he adds. “I think there is a sense that they’re far out there, they’re almost like posthumans, but I [don’t think they are]. They’re humans, and they’re damaged, and they’re dangerous and interesting. [The challenge for me was] how to bring that sense of vulnerability, a certain psychological realism. [I wanted to] make a satire that’s still touching and that’s still provoking, but [that isn’t] creating this sense of distance.”
For Aïnouz, casting the role of the father required an actor who could embrace both the character’s complexity and the film’s take on comedy. He recalls how his conversation with Tracy Letts revealed an immediate connection to the material: “We had talked to a lot of actors for [the part of the father], but there was always a second thought. And then when I talked to Tracy [Letts], I’m a huge fan of his plays, I think he’s perhaps the most interesting [living] playwright in the U.S, we had a conversation, and he said, “listen, don’t worry. I’m not worried about that scene. What I’m really worried about is riding a horse.” That really that won my heart because there was a real understanding of the material. There was a real sense of humor about it.”
Color is one way the film expresses itself, transforming the family’s world into something both beautiful and unsettling. The film looks peaceful on the surface, but Aïnouz uses that to hide deep conflict. He tells us, “it’s not only the question of the excess of colors which creates a sense of a world that’s not real, but the colors are very harmonious; these colors match each other. So there’s the sense of creating a sort of visual harmony to portray something which was full of friction and had everything but harmony.”
Rosebush Pruning reflects Aïnouz’s talent for intertwining social commentary with visual beauty, creating a film that is as disturbing as it is unexpectedly human.
Rosebush Pruning releases in theaters in the U.S. on July 24.
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