Editor’s note: This article has been updated with the official trailer

Shadow and Act has an exclusive look at Fatale, the upcoming film starring Michael Ealy and Hilary Swank, which is directed by Deon Taylor and produced by Roxanne Avent.

In the film a successful sports agent, Derrick (Ealy), watches his perfect life slowly disappear when he becomes entangled in a police investigation led by a discredited, disgraced and determined detective (Swank), with whom he had a wild one night stand. Mike Colter, Geoffrey Owens, Damaris Lewis, Danny Pino and Tyrin Turner also star.

On bringing audiences to theaters, Taylor and Avant said, “For so many of us, theaters and film play a significant role in our lives for escapism. Being able to walk away from your everyday life and disappear into a dark, beautiful theater with no distractions is priceless, and most recently, these are indeed times that we need to have a simple escape. Theaters offer this to us as a people.”

But, safety is the first priority and the husband and wife duo learned about the CinemaSafe initiative in which theaters take extra precautions to ensure safety. “After learning about Cinemasafe, it completely opened our eyes that everyone needs to be educated on this initiative that the theaters are offering,” they said. “Seeing the work that theater chains across the county have put in to ensure the patrons are safe is absolutely amazing. From limited capacity seating to clean air and, in some cases, temperature checks, allow you to feel safe once again to see a film. I feel it is our jobs as filmmakers and producers to educate the public on seeing films safely. Theaters need films like Fatale, Wonder Woman 1984 and Croods 2 for support and to stay in business, and we are here to fight for that.”

On their working relationship, Taylor said, “Although married, and Roxanne and I approach film from a completely different vantage point. As a director, I understand that Roxanne is one of the most dynamic producers in Hollywood. We often put our marriage aside and work collectively as a director/producer relationship. We truly understand how to stay in our own lanes and I trust her to handle all things production-wise.”

Avent added, “I trust Deon to handle all things creatively as a filmmaker. Once you understand each person’s role, you find that the team often wins.”

The director continued, “Every now and again after a movie is wrapped and we watch it together in the theater we sometimes have creative arguments – because she was right! Happy wife, happy life!”

All in all, the duo is excited to see Fatale brought to theaters. “Audiences should be excited to see Fatale because we pride ourselves in making films for audiences to see on the big screen. We call these interactive films. These are movies that are electric and actually make audiences talk back to the screen. Fatale is a throwback film that will do this exactly, have you talking to the screen. The film is in the vein of Strangers on a Train, Fatal Attraction and Gone Girl, which equals mystery, thrilling moments and an ending that will make you cover your eyes and say, ‘Oh no!'”

Then there are the performances. “Not to mention the performances in the film led by two-time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank and Michael Ealy arre absolutely incredible and once you roll in two-time Academy Award-nominated cinematographer, Dante Spinotti, you have something extremely special that audiences should definitely go see,” he said. “Lastly, I would add with a bit of seriousness that there is an incredible message at the core of this film. A message that challenges audiences to answer this very important question. What is the most important thing in your life?”

Watch the trailer below:

Fatale will be released on Dec. 18.

Roxanne Avent

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