Neil LaBute — Director (9)

Movie

Nurse Betty (2000)
Nurse Betty WikiData IMDb TMDB Skybridge
other title: Betty Love / A Enfermeira Betty …
What happens when a person decides that life is merely a state of mind? If you're Betty, a small-town waitress and soap opera fan from Fair Oaks, Kansas, you refuse to believe that you can't be with the love of your life just because he doesn't really exist. After all, life is no excuse for not living. Traumatized by a savage event, Betty enters into a fugue state that allows -- even encourages -- her to keep functioning... in a kind of alternate reality.

Movie

House of Darkness (2022)
House of Darkness WikiData IMDb TMDB
Driving home to her secluded estate after meeting at a local bar, a player out to score thinks his beautiful, mysterious date will be another casual hook-up. While getting acquainted, their flirtation turns playful, sexy and sinister. Hoping to get lucky, his luck may have just run out.

TV

Billy & Billie (2015)
Billy & Billie WikiData IMDb TMDB
other title: Billy and Billie
Billy & Billie centers on two young adults as they fall in love. They face the usual barrage of attention from their friends and family, and the normal anxieties that come at the start of a new relationship-all further complicated by the fact that they're stepbrother and sister.

TV

The I-Land (2019)
The I-Land Season 1 part of TV Series: The I-Land TMDB NeoDB
Jonathan Scarfe / Darnell Martin … actor: Natalie Martinez / Kyle Schmid …
Wiped clean of memories and thrown together, a group of strangers fight to survive harsh realities -- and the island that traps them.

Performance

The Shape of Things
The Shape of Things Douban NeoDB
Neil LaBute / Neil Labute … genre: theater
other title: 人体雕塑 director: Neil LaBute / 張銘耀 actor: Paul Rudd / Rachel Weisz / Gretchen Mol / Fred Weller / 劉俊謙
When Adam Sorenson (Paul Rudd), an English Literature major at Mercy College, a fictitious Midwestern college, meets Evelyn Ann Thompson (Rachel Weisz), an attractive graduate art student, at the local museum where he works, his life takes an unexpected turn. Never having had success with women, he is flattered when Evelyn shows an interest in him and, at Evelyn's suggestion, begins a regular exercise regimen, eats healthier foods, dresses more stylishly, acts more confident and dominant, as well as purchases contact lenses. These initial changes regarding Adam's physical appearance are well received by Adam's friend, Phillip (Frederick Weller), and Phillip's girlfriend, Jenny (Gretchen Mol). Later however, Evelyn cajoles Adam into undergoing plastic surgery and succeeds in persuading him to cut himself off from Phillip and Jenny. It seems all Evelyn wants Adam to do is change everything about himself into what is more conventionally acceptable. In the penultimate scene, Adam learns that he has been part of Evelyn's MFA thesis project, a topic often touched on in conversation throughout the film but never fully explained. Evelyn relates that she had been instructed to "change the world" by her graduate adviser, but that she has chosen to change "someone's world", her academic work ultimately consisting of "sculpting" Adam into a more attractive human being. She presents Adam before an audience of students and faculty as her creation. Accordingly, none of the feelings she has shown him throughout the film are genuine; at no stage in their "relationship" does she fall in love with him; her videotaping of their lovemaking is just a part of the project's documentation. In fact, she announces before a live audience at her gallery opening that she is not going to marry him and the engagement ring he offers her is simply one of the exhibits of her art installation, the "capper to my time at Mercy." Publicly humiliated and devastated, Adam confronts Evelyn, demanding an explanation for her actions. She responds by saying that he should in fact be grateful to her, claiming that, objectively speaking, she has been a positive influence on his life, making him a more attractive and interesting person in the eyes of society. In the final moments of the film, Adam stands alone, surrounded by the remnants of his life before and after Evelyn.

Movie

Death at a Funeral (2010)
Death at a Funeral
other title: Il funerale è servito / Morte num Funeral …
Aaron's father's funeral is today at the family home, and everything goes wrong: the funeral home delivers the wrong body, his cousin accidentally drugs her fiancé, and Aaron's successful younger brother, Ryan, flies in from New York, broke but arrogant. To top it all off, a mysterious stranger wants a word with Aaron.

Movie

Lakeview Terrace (2008)
Lakeview Terrace
other title: La terrazza sul lago / Vizinho Suspeito …
A young interracial couple has just moved into their California dream home when they become the target of their next-door neighbor, who disapproves of their relationship. A tightly wound LAPD officer has appointed himself the watchdog of the neighborhood. His nightly foot patrols and overly watchful eyes bring comfort to some, but he becomes increasingly aggressive to the newlyweds. These persistent intrusions into their lives cause the couple to fight back.