With an Oscar in his pocket for the screenplay of “Precious,” Geoffrey Fletcher could’ve tackled any number of projects, and likely had more than a few doors open for him. But instead, he decided tackle his feature debut in a movie that couldn’t be more different than the awards season sensation, writing and directing the teen assassin action/comedy “Violet & Daisy.”
Starring Saoirse Ronan, Alexis Bledel and James Gandolfini, the film tells the story of a pair rising killers-for-hire who find themselves questioning their gig and their lives when they encounter Michael, their latest target. As you might guess, there are a lot of genre elements at play and Fletcher told us he cast a wide net to drawn on for inspiration. “I’ve always loved foreign films from the 1950s and 1960s from France, Japan and Italy – American films from the 70’s as well. Novels from many eras and graphic novels from the 1980’s to today were also an enormous influence,” he said.
In this exclusive clip, we see Daisy and Michael sharing a quiet moment, as he questions her about being assassin and what her job entails. And while Ronan also played a trained killer in “Hanna,” this is very different character, and one that Fletcher knew she could pull off. “Saoirse is so gifted. I think she can do anything and people will see yet another side to her in this movie,” he enthused. “There’s extraordinary vulnerability and humor to her Daisy.”
“Violet & Daisy” opens in limited release on June 7th. Watch the clip below.