Ethan Hawke Uncovers Hideous Family Crime based on True Events in “REGRESSION”
“Regression,” which means an act of going back stars Ethan Hawke and
Emma Watson at the backdrop of Minnesota, 1990. The film follows detective
Bruce Kenner (Hawke) investigating the case of young Angela (Watson), who
accuses her father, John Gray (David Dencik), of an unspeakable crime. When
John unexpectedly and without recollection admits guilt, renowned psychologist
Dr. Raines (David Thewlis) is brought in to help him relive his memories and
what they discover unmasks a horrifying nationwide mystery.
Director Alejandro
Amenábar returns to the big screen with “Regression,” which represents a return
to suspense, the genre of his feature film debut in 1996 (“Thesis”). Inspired by a wave of events that occurred in
the United States during the eighties, the film is both “a reflection on evil
and an exploration of the shortcuts of the mind,” says producer Fernando
Bovaira. The initial accusations that
served as documentation for the writing of the screenplay arose within the
context of growing political and religious power inside the United States, and
later spread to the rest of the world with unequal intensity, even reaching the
point where it was classified as a global conspiracy, and not only by the most
sensationalistic sources.
“There was a series of real phenomenon that took
place in which police investigation, psychological consulting and superstition
converged in an attempt to piece together a strange and horrifying puzzle known
as Satanic Ritual Abuse,” recalls Alejandro Amenábar. “The wave of accusations and confessions was
overwhelming, destroying entire families, generating chaos and social panic and
in several cases there were harsh criminal consequences. It has been very interesting to revisit those
cases from back in the eighties and nineties with the perspective of someone
from the 21st century.”
Bruce Kenner is the detective leading the
investigation of a family accused of practicing satanic rituals in a small town
of Minnesota. Recently divorced, he finds shelter in his work, where he can
channel his obsessive personality into getting to the bottom of every case. His
thoroughness and dedication routinely put him at odds with his colleagues and
this time will plunge him into the darkest depths of human nature.“Bruce is a
police officer that is investigating the alleged crime of a young woman who has
been seriously abused by some people who have confessed to being part of a very
strange satanic cult. And so it kind of takes Bruce down the rabbit hole, so to
speak,” says Hawke of his role.
“Bruce Kenner, the character played by Ethan Hawke,
is one of the smartest and most sophisticated guys in town. While Angela, played by Emma Watson, is like
a little angel in the middle of that world, who seems to say very little but
sends sparks flying in every direction,” says Alejandro Amenábar. "My
character is kind of an enigma to me”, explains Ethan Hawke.
A challenge shared by the director and star, as Alejandro
Amenábar highlights: “When we started
shooting, Ethan said that it was the story of a man who was asleep. And my answer was: ‘No, it’s the story of
someone who’s permanently awake, nothing gets past him.’ And I think he managed to build a character
who is the smartest detective in town but who is kind of sleepwalking the whole
time. What surprised me most about
Ethan’s work is how he manages to find that range of extremely contained energy
in someone who is extremely tough, who in the end is truly afraid.”
Ethan Hawke’s
luminous acting career launched when he was cast in “Dead Poets Society,” later
on, after twenty five years, and several Tony® and Oscar® nominations, he has
emerged a multifaceted artist, challenging himself as a novelist, screenwriter
and director, while earning world acclaim for his brave and nuanced roles. Hawke’s impressive line of work includes the
recently acclaimed “Boyhood.” His other memorable previous films are “Before
Sunset,” Before Sunrise,” “Before Midnight,” “The Purge,” “Training Day,”
“Reality Bites,” “Gattaca” and “Sinister.”
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