The Forgiven Interview: Ralph Fiennes & Jessica Chastain on this bleakly comic drama

One of my favorite movies to play at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival was John Michael McDonagh’s The Forgiven (read my review here). Anchored by superb performances from its cast, McDonagh’s bleakly comic morality tale fits in well with his filmography, which includes The Guard, Calvary and the underrated War on Everyone. In it, Jessica Chastain and Ralph Fiennes play a wealthy couple who make their way to Morocco for a weekend of debauchery at the louche friend’s (Matt Smith) sprawling desert estate. Before they can plunge into cocaine and random sex, they accidentally hit and kill a young boy with the car, something they view as only a minor inconvenience. Too bad for them, the boy’s father, a Berber tribal leader, quickly discovers what happened and doesn’t take kindly to their efforts to pay him off.

He requests that Fiennes’ David, who was driving, accompany him to his camp in the desert to bury the boy, and he reluctantly goes along, knowing well that he may get killed when he reaches his destination. His wife opts to stay behind and party. These roles offer Fiennes and Chastain some meaty material to chew on, and I was thrilled to get the chance to speak with them over Zoom earlier this week. It turns out that Chastain was more than familiar with the material and once tried to option the property. At the same time, Fiennes seemed to appreciate my take on his not wholly unsympathetic character.

The Forgiven is now playing in limited release, and if you want to see an intriguing adult drama, I highly recommend checking it out.