“Smile,” by director Natalie Peracchio is an unclassifiable film about an awkward and surreal dentist visit. We asked Peracchio how the project began, creating a strange atmosphere, and working with her cast…

1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?

I’m not so much interested in filmmaking as I’m interested in people. I’ve always been fascinated by behavior and observing absurdities that arise from every day interactions. Any medium that puts behavior and performance at the forefront is something I can get into.

I do love the aesthetic side of film, and growing up my passion was for fine art. I always get excited when I find an opportunity to bring the aesthetics I love to life through a story.

2) What’s the origin story here - what was the original inspiration, and what were some of the first steps to get it rolling?

It all started with a bizarre visit to the dentist’s office. When I went to get my first cavity fixed, I ended up crying for a good twenty minutes after the doctor numbed my mouth. The nurse tried to calm me down by babbling on about her sons, Disney World, shoes. The dentist checked in periodically but never mentioned the fact that I was weeping uncontrollably. Eventually we wrapped it up, but I definitely missed my last cleaning.

It’s difficult to know how to respond when someone bursts into tears in front of you. I was struck by how this breech of contract garnered a mix of empathy and denial. It felt connected to other ways that unexpected revelations create discomfort. That’s what made me start writing.

3) There’s such a unique atmosphere in this piece. I can’t really imagine how you created this tone. Was it about just finding the awkwardness, or the tedium, or was it more about the surreal dreaminess of it? Come to think of it, this does feel very close to the feeling of a dream.

That’s an interesting observation about the dreaminess! One thing about dreams is that there’s a sort of plainness to the manner in which things don’t make sense. It’s like, you’re dreaming that you’re being chased through the halls of your elementary school by a giant duck, but you aren’t concerned with why you’re there or what you’ve done to enrage the duck, you’re just responding to the situation emotionally. That’s the effect I wanted Smile to have.

A major factor in achieving this was cinematography. Early on, my DP, Ted von Bevern, and I became obsessed with the Pennebaker documentary, The War Room. It’s been one of my favorite movies for a long time, but there’s a combination of theatricality and banality to it that seemed to fit this story well. We picked out the long takes, slow zooms, and the specific look of the 16mm film to help us recreate that tone.

4) It’s such a compelling lead performance. How did you cast that part, and how did you prepare for the role together? Also, what were your directions to the other actors, considering it’s a strange mix of real and surreal.

I met Lauren Slone (Emily) when she read for the part. I was so impressed with how she handled the long pauses where she just had to sit in an abyss of awkwardness without succumbing to pressure to do or say something. It’s difficult to be vulnerable and human while everyone is watching you, but Lauren makes it all feel natural. The nuance that she achieves keeps the story grounded.

From casting on, the chemistry between the actors, and between the actors and Ted’s camera, was the number one priority. It became an iterative process of improvisation and rehearsal. We had about a month of rehearsals where we would get together and run through the whole short, improvising and tweaking while Ted recorded. Ted and I would watch the footage and start to shape which actions and shots worked, and then we would incorporate those into the next version. By the time we were shooting, it was like we were just making another draft of the project.

I talked a lot with Anwar Molani (Dentist), Erika Toraya (Nurse), and Cecilie Rushton (Receptionist) about boredom. We figured that both the dentist and the nurse had already seen a couple of patients, and had a lot more to get through. This was just another appointment for them. That disconnect between the significance of the moment for the patient and for the doctors creates an interesting tension, and the routine nature of it was mirrored by the process we adopted in rehearsals.

5) What’s a film you’ve seen, new or old, so far this year that you really loved and why?

I recently watched Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. by M.I.A. and Steve Loveridge. It was such a radically personal statement, from the story to the style and blend of footage and music- I found it incredibly moving.

Bonus Question) What’s next for you?

I’m developing a couple of projects that are kind of all over the place in terms of style and story. I think the first one I’m going to tackle is a stop-motion miniseries about plants.

Contact Info:

IG: @natperacchio

Facebook: Natalie Peracchio