| What We Do Next | |
| Director: | Stephen Belber |
| Producer: |
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| Screenplay: | Stephen Belber |
| Starring: | |
| Music: | Paul Brill |
| Cinematography: | Garrette Rose |
| Editing: | Justin Chan |
| Studio: |
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| Runtime: | 77 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
What We Do Next is a 2022 American thriller directed by Stephen Belber and starring Corey Stoll, Karen Pittman and Michelle Veintimilla. It premiered at the Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival in April 2022.It had a limited theatrical release on March 3, 2023.
Mercado (Veintimilla) has served 16 years in prison for killing her abusive father. After her release, a New York City Councilwoman (Pittman) and a corporate attorney (Stoll) are forced to face up to their involvement in the original crime.[1]
Chris Mangano, Merry-Kay Poe and Max Neace produced the film, which is a co-production between Poe's Unbridled Films and Mangano's Mangano Movies & Media. Lynn Nottage acted as co-producer. Writer and director Stephen Belber was an executive producer along with Brian Tanke, and Matt Bronson.[2]
It was filmed in the autumn of 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky in six and a half shooting days during the COVID-19 pandemic.[3]
Producers Unbridled Films and Mangano Movies & Media are handling distribution for the film which premiered at the Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival in April 2022, and then also played at the Flyover Film Festival in Louisville. Kentucky in July 2022.[4] The film had a Canadian premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival on September 30, 2022.[5] The film has a limited US cinema release date of 3 March 2023.[6]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, What We Do Next holds an approval rating of 100% based on 10 reviews with an average rating of 10/10.[7] Following the premiere for the film Randy Myers in The Mercury News described it as “a taut, never harried 77 minutes” and “well acted and thought provoking”.[8] Lapacazo Sandoval in the New York Amsterdam News reflected that the film had clear beginnings as a play and “is basically still a play, just shot on film”. Praise was given to the director of photography, Garrette Rose, production designer, Christelle Matou, and editor Justin Chan for making a film that was “beautiful to look at”.[9]