What We Do Next

What We Do Next is a 2022 American thriller directed by Stephen Belber and starring Corey Stoll, Karen Pittman and Michelle Veintimilla. It premiered at the Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival in April 2022. It had a limited theatrical release on March 3, 2023.

What We Do Next
Directed by	Stephen Belber
Screenplay by	Stephen Belber
Produced by	Chris Mangano Merry-Kay Poe Max Neace Lynn Nottage
Starring	Corey Stoll Karen Pittman Michelle Veintimilla
Cinematography	Garrette Rose
Edited by	Justin Chan
Music by	Paul Brill
Production companies	Unbridled Films Mangano Movies & Media
Release date	April 14, 2022 (2022-04-14) (Cinequest)
Running time	77 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Synopsis

Mercado (Veintimilla) has served 16 years in prison for killing her abusive father. After her release, a New York City Councilwoman (Pittman) and a corporate attorney (Stoll) are forced to face up to their involvement in the original crime.^[1]

Cast

• Michelle Veintimilla as Elsa Mercado
• Corey Stoll as Paul Jenkins
• Karen Pittman as Sandy James

Production

Chris Mangano, Merry-Kay Poe and Max Neace produced the film, which is a co-production between Poe's Unbridled Films and Mangano's Mangano Movies & Media. Lynn Nottage acted as co-producer. Writer and director Stephen Belber was an executive producer along with Brian Tanke, and Matt Bronson.^[2]

It was filmed in the autumn of 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky in six and a half shooting days during the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3]

Release

Producers Unbridled Films and Mangano Movies & Media are handling distribution for the film which premiered at the Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival in April 2022, and then also played at the Flyover Film Festival in Louisville. Kentucky in July 2022.^[4] The film had a Canadian premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival on September 30, 2022.^[5] The film has a limited US cinema release date of 3 March 2023.^[6]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, What We Do Next holds an approval rating of 100% based on 10 reviews with an average rating of 10/10.^[7] Following the premiere for the film Randy Myers in The Mercury News described it as “a taut, never harried 77 minutes” and “well acted and thought provoking”.^[8] Lapacazo Sandoval in the New York Amsterdam News reflected that the film had clear beginnings as a play and “is basically still a play, just shot on film”. Praise was given to the director of photography, Garrette Rose, production designer, Christelle Matou, and editor Justin Chan for making a film that was “beautiful to look at”.^[9]