Two Strangers Trying Not To Kill Each Other

26th TIDF: International Premiere

Life, death, and making meaning are the heart of a beautiful and often very funny film about an aging couple who, after an accident, face the inevitability of impermanence and seek deep peace in their relationship while they still can. Thirty years after a chance encounter, Maggie and Joel, aged 75 and 84, are still very much in love. But their relationship is not without complications. Born in the hard-boiled Bronx, Joel Meyerowitz is a world-renowned photographer with major exhibitions and 40 books to his name. British-born Maggie Barrett is a talented but less recognized artist and writer. There is a knot of unease in their relationship, which is further strained when Maggie falls and breaks her leg and Joel must take on her caregiving. In the shadow of mortality, each with a long and dramatic life behind them, the hard truths of life together provoke in Maggie and Joel an attempt to find a shared inner peace while there is still time.

Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Direction: Jacob Perlmutter, Manon Ouimet

Cinematography: Jacob Perlmutter

Editing: Estephan Wagner, Josh Mallalieu

Music: Diogo Strausz

Actors: Maggie Barrett, Joel Meyerowitz

Production: Manon et Jacob, Final Cut for Real

Producers: Manon Ouimet, Signe Byrge Sørensen, Jacob Perlmutter

Co-production: Undeniable Fremantle, Louverture Films

Executive producer: Mandy Chang, Joslyn Barnes, Melissa O’Shaughnessy, James O’Shaughnessy, Janus Billeskov Jansen

Format: DCP

Color: Color

Production Country: UK, Denmark

Production Year: 2024

Duration: 101'

Contact: Final Cut For Real

Jacob Perlmutter

Filmography

2013 San Francisco Love Story (short)
2017 French Exchange (short fiction)
2020 Who Is My Brother? (short)
2024 Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other (co-direction)