Unforgettable (2017 film)

Unforgettable
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Denise Di Novi
Produced by	Denise Di Novi Alison Greenspan Ravi D. Mehta
Written by	Christina Hodson
Starring	Rosario Dawson Katherine Heigl Geoff Stults
Music by	Toby Chu
Cinematography	Caleb Deschanel
Edited by	Frédéric Thoraval
Production companies	Di Novi Pictures
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date	April 21, 2017 (2017-04-21) (United States)
Running time	100 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$12 million[2]
Box office	$17.8 million[1]

Unforgettable is a 2017 American thriller film directed by Denise Di Novi (in her directorial debut) and written by Christina Hodson. The film stars Katherine Heigl, Rosario Dawson, Geoff Stults, Isabella Rice and Cheryl Ladd, and follows a divorcée who begins to torment the new fiancé of her ex-husband.

Principal photography began on August 17, 2015 in Los Angeles. The film was released on April 21, 2017 by Warner Bros. Pictures, and grossed $17 million against its $12 million budget.

Plot

The film opens with Julia Banks (Rosario Dawson) in an interrogation room, being questioned in the murder of her psychotic ex-boyfriend, Michael. Julia claims that she has been set up and that she has nothing to do with the murder, despite the police's copies of instant-message conversations between them clearly showing Julia lusting after him.

The film cuts to six months earlier, with Julia leaving her job as an editor at a popular fiction website to work from the home she will be sharing with her fiancé, David Conover, trying to settle into her new role as a wife and a stepmother, she believes she has finally met the man of her dreams, the man who can help her put her own troubled past behind her. Julia's friend Ali buys her some presents and tells her that if she needs anything, she is there. Julia then drives to David's mansion, where she is greeted by David's ex-wife, Tessa (Katherine Heigl), who is barely coping with the end of her marriage. After saying goodbye to her daughter, Lilly, Tessa leaves, but not before shooting Julia a dirty look. That night, David and Julia have sex.

The next evening, Tessa shows up at the house to drop off something, but Lilly insists she stays for dinner. While they are eating, Tessa openly criticizes Julia's cooking and leaves. Julia then gets a notification that her restraining order against her abusive ex-boyfriend, Michael, has expired, much to her distress. That night, she sees a dark shadow walking outside the living room window, but it just turns out to be David, home from work late.

A few days later, Tessa's controlling mother comes to visit, angry at her for causing her marriage with David to fall apart. She berates her and then goes outside to watch Lilly play, while Tessa sits inside, crying while watching her and David's wedding video. She then puts Julia's name into an identity search engine and discovers her restraining order against Michael and sets up a Facebook account for Julia and begins messaging Michael, pretending to be Julia, telling him how much she misses him. That night, at a grand opening party for David's brewery, Tessa snoops on Julia's phone while she's dancing with David and discovers that the two are planning to be married. Enraged, she storms out of the place and has sex with one of the bartenders.

The next day, Julia is getting ready for a bath when she hears the doorbell ring. While she's downstairs checking, Tessa breaks into the house and steals David's watch, wedding ring, and a pair of Julia's panties. The doorbell was rung by a deliveryman, carrying flowers sent anonymously by Tessa to make it look like Julia is having an affair. Julia angrily slams the door and goes back upstairs. That afternoon, Julia takes Lilly to a farmer's market but she runs away while Julia takes a phone call. After a few minutes of frantic searching, she finds Lilly in Tessa's arms, who is complaining to David about the incompetence of Julia's role as a mother. Tessa shows up at the house again sometime later and Julia yells at her about trying to get back into her husband's life. After a brief argument, Tessa drives away. That afternoon, the two have lunch together to try and reconcile, and Tessa reveals the reason that David left her was because she was having an affair. That night, Tessa mails Michael the watch, ring, and panties.

A few days later, Tessa attempts to get Lilly to ride an unruly horse at her riding practice. Julia, who is also there, notices how scared Lilly is and convinces her to come down and takes her home, much to Tessa's annoyance. That night, Julia sees David flirting with another woman at a dinner party, and the two have heated sex in the bathroom, interspersed with scenes of Tessa pleasuring herself while she messages Michael about how much she wants him, pretending to be Julia.

Tessa cuts off Lilly's long hair as a punishment for leaving riding practice early, which Julia notices when Tessa drops her off that afternoon. The two have a heated argument on the stairs before Tessa throws herself down them and pretends that Julia pushed her when David arrives a few minutes later. He takes her to a hospital, comes back home and castigates Julia for treating his ex-wife so badly. The next day, Julia calls Ali over to investigate Tessa's past, and the two discover that she has history of violent and unpredictable episodes.

After a series of increasingly heated meetings between the two women, Tessa finally messages Michael, asking him to come to her. Michael breaks into the house while Julia is making breakfast, and she is noticeably upset at his presence. He then attacks and tries to rape her, but she stabs him in the leg with a kitchen knife and escapes the house. Tessa, who was waiting outside the whole time, puts gloves on and enters the house, killing Michael by stabbing him in the heart.

The police are notified, and Julia is taken into questioning, but they release her due to circumstantial evidence. David finds out about Michael and a tearful Julia explains her relationship with him. David heads to Tessa's house to see Lilly, but after seeing burned gloves in the fireplace, realizes that Tessa set up Julia for the murder. She knocks him out with a fireplace poker and goes into the kitchen to get a first-aid kit. Julia realizes what has happened and drives over, getting Lilly out of the house while Tessa is busy in the kitchen. Julia tries to call 911, but is discovered by Tessa and the two fight in the hallway, ending with Julia smashing Tessa's head into a glass picture frame, apparently knocking her out. She crawls into the living room to revive David, but is surprised by Tessa, who wasn't knocked out, holding a knife. She tries to kill Julia, but after looking in the mirror and realizing the monster she has become, stabs herself in the stomach. With her last words, she begs Julia to not let her daughter remember her like this. David wakes up as the police arrive.

Six months later, David, Julia, and Lilly have adopted a dog and moved into a new house, apparently moved on from Tessa's rampage. There is a knock at the door and Julia opens it, revealing Tessa's mother, wanting to see her granddaughter. Julia looks on in horror as she hugs Lilly.

Cast

• Katherine Heigl as Tessa Connover (née Manning), the newly divorced mother of Lily and ex-wife of David.^[3][4]
• Rosario Dawson as Julia Banks, fiancée of David.^[3][5]
• Geoff Stults as David Connover, Tessa's ex-husband and father of Lily.^[3]
• Isabella Rice as Lily Connover, Tessa and David's daughter
• Cheryl Ladd as Helen Manning,^[6] referred to as "Lovey" by her granddaughter.
• Simon Kassianides^[6] as Michael Vargas, Julia's abusive and violent ex-boyfriend.
• Whitney Cummings^[6] as Ali, Julia’s best friend
• Robert Wisdom^[6] as Detective Pope

Production

On January 9, 2014, it was announced that Warner Bros. had hired Amma Asante to direct the female-centric thriller Unforgettable. Denise Di Novi was set to produce the film along with Alison Greenspan, while Christina Hodson was writing the script.^[7] On December 2, 2014, Kate Hudson and Kerry Washington were cast as the leads in the film, about a man who is threatened by his ex-wife.^[8] On June 22, 2015, after director Asante and actresses Hudson and Washington had left the project, it was revealed that producer Di Novi would make her directorial debut with the film.^[9][10] It was also revealed that David Leslie Johnson had co-written the script along with Hodson.^[9] On August 12, 2015, Katherine Heigl was cast to play Tessa Connover, the sly and mentally unstable divorced mother who threatens her ex-husband, daughter, and her ex-husband's new girlfriend.^[3][4] The same day, Rosario Dawson was cast as the girlfriend, Julia Banks, who tries to fight back against Tessa.^[3][5] On August 21, 2015, more cast was announced, including Geoff Stults as David, the ex-husband, Isabella Rice as Lily, the daughter, Cheryl Ladd as Heigl's character's mother, and Simon Kassianides, Whitney Cummings, and Robert Wisdom.^[3][6]

Ravi D. Mehta and Emanuel Michael were also announced as producers of the film, along with other members of the creative team, including cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, production designer Nelson Coates, editor Frédéric Thoraval, and costume designer Marian Toy.^[3]

Filming

Principal photography on the film began on August 17, 2015, in and around Los Angeles.^[3][5] Dawson was spotted filming in Beverly Hills, California,^[11] and Heigl was spotted with her stunt double, a professional horse rider, Jennifer Sims.^[12]

Release

Unforgettable was released on April 21, 2017, by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Box office

Unforgettable grossed $11.4 million in the United States and Canada and $6.4 million in other territories for a worldwide gross of $17.8 million, against a production budget of $12 million.^[1]

In the United States and Canada, Unforgettable opened alongside The Promise, Born in China, Free Fire and Phoenix Forgotten, and was initially projected to gross around $7 million from 2,417 theaters in its opening weekend.^[13] However, after grossing just $1.7 million on Friday, weekend projections were lowered to $4–5 million. It ended up opening to $4.8 million, finishing 7th at the box office.^[14]

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 26% based on 94 reviews, with an average rating of 3.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Unforgettable's talented cast makes this domestic thriller consistently watchable, even if its failure to fully embrace its premise's campy possibilities prevents it from living up to its title."^[15] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 45 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[16] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.^[17]

Vince Mancini of Uproxx called the film "a surprisingly well-executed version of exactly what you assumed it would be. Which is to say, it’s a 'psycho ex' movie that’s fun, but doesn’t exactly reinvent the genre...It’s fun while it lasts, let’s say (the opposite of its title, basically). Sometimes that’s enough, but your mileage may vary."^[18]

References

External links

• Official website
• Unforgettable on IMDb
• Unforgettable at Rotten Tomatoes