Winner of the Critics’ Week Audience Award and the Cinema & Arts Award at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, Jethro Massey’s first feature Paul & Paulette Take a Bath will be released in UK and Irish cinemas on September 5 through Conic. Blending romance, dark humour and history, the film follows two strangers in Paris whose peculiar game turns into an unexpected exploration of intimacy, fragility and human connection.
Set in Paris, the film follows the unlikely bond between Paul, a young American photographer, and Paulette, a French woman who copes with heartbreak through a game as macabre as it is intimate: reenacting scenes of notorious crimes where they once happened. What begins as a playful connection slowly transforms into a road trip through history, memory and desire, challenging ideas of love, morality and tenderness in today’s world. Blending dark comedy with a disarming sweetness, Paul & Paulette Take a Bath is both a throwback to classic romantic comedies and a daring exploration of the shadows that lie beneath them.
Interview with Jethro Massey (Writer, Director & Producer)
This was a completely self-produced film. How did that shape the story you wanted to tell?
It came with a lot of constraints, we had very little money and a very small crew. But what we lacked in resources, we made up for with preparation and a talented cast. It gave me the freedom to take risks without financiers telling me “you can’t do that.” Some humour is borderline, and I knew it would divide audiences, but that creative risk is what makes the film interesting.
You cast two unknown leads, Marie Benatti and Jeremy Galeana. Why was this important to you?
Without financial pressure to attach big names, I could really search for the right actors. Marie and Jeremy captured Paul and Paulette perfectly. Marie transformed completely, while Jeremy had this generosity as an actor, allowing us to see Paulette through Paul’s eyes. Together, they were the perfect pair.
The film portrays romance with fragility and tenderness, something unusual in today’s cinema. How do you see love and romance in the modern world?
I think it’s important to put fragile characters on screen, we all are, whether we admit it or not. Paul comes in with romantic ideals about Paris and Paulette, but those illusions get stripped away. The film explores not only romantic love but also platonic love and deeper connections beyond clichés.
Why mix Paris’s darker history with intimacy and romance?
Because the games they play, revisiting places of tragedy, are also ways of learning about each other. That morbid curiosity is how they build a relationship. The further they go, the more they understand each other.
The film balances comedy, strangeness and romance. How did you achieve that?
I love dark humour. Sometimes in tragic situations, the worst possible thing to say is exactly what’s needed. I wanted the film to feel light and fun to watch, while still leaving you thinking days later about the darker layers underneath.
The story evolves from a simple “boy meets girl” into something unexpected. How did you build that transformation?
It was intentional from the script: I didn’t want the audience to predict where it was going. The first cut was three hours long, and with my editor Julia Sheldon we stripped it down, keeping the essence and twists. It’s like removing scaffolding to reveal the sculpture underneath.
If you had to define what Paul and Paulette represent beyond their characters, what would it be?
They’re an exploration of the darker corners of our minds, uncomfortable thoughts we all have. Importantly, there’s no violence in the film. It’s about violence without ever showing it.
Venice audiences embraced the film as a cult discovery. Why do you think it connected so strongly?
Because everyone comes away with a different view. Some love Paulette immediately, others only later. That ambiguity, combined with macabre humour, makes it feel like a cult film.
How do you see the evolution of romantic cinema today?
Old classics like The Apartment have a simplicity that’s hard to replicate today. But what matters now is taking those traditions and twisting them, telling love stories from new angles. As long as filmmakers do that, romance on screen will stay fresh, tender and surprising.
Paul & Paulette Take a Bath, directed by Jethro Massey, premieres on September 5 in the UK and Ireland.
