Viper Club

Viper Club is a 2018 American drama film directed by Maryam Keshavarz and starring Susan Sarandon. The film was produced by YouTube Premium in association with CounterNarrative and MaraKesh Films and held its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2018. The film was released theatrically in the United States on October 26, 2018.

Viper Club
Directed byMaryam Keshavarz
Written by
  • Maryam Keshavarz
  • Jonathan Mastro
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyDrew Daniels
Edited byAndrea Chignoli
Music byGingger Shankar
Production
companies
  • CounterNarrative
  • MaraKesh Films
Distributed by
Release dates
  • September 10, 2018 (2018-09-10) (TIFF)
  • October 26, 2018 (2018-10-26) (United States)
Running time
109 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Premise

Viper Club follows "a veteran emergency room nurse secretly struggling to free her grown son, a journalist, from capture by a terrorist group. After running into roadblocks with government agencies, she discovers a clandestine community of journalists and advocates who might be able to help her."[1]

Cast

Production

On March 21, 2018, it was announced that YouTube Red had just finished production on a film, then-titled Vulture Club, directed by Maryam Keshavarz. The film was written by Keshavarz alongside Jonathan Mastro and executive produced by Anna Gerb, Neal Dodson, and J.C. Chandor. Cast members were set to include Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Matt Bomer, Julian Morris, Lola Kirke, and Sheila Vand.[1][2][3]

Release

The film was distributed by Roadside Attractions and released on October 26, 2018. Following its theatrical run, the film was made available for streaming on YouTube Premium.[4][5]

On September 10, 2018, the film held its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival as a featured selection in the "Special Presentations" series of films.[6][7][8] That same day, the official trailer for the film was released.[9][10]

Controversy

Ahead of the film's release, Diane Foley, the mother of slain journalist James Foley, expressed criticism of the film. Although the production team contacted and spoke to Foley during the production process, she felt the plot of the film was inappropriate and misleading in its retelling of events from her and her late son's lives. In the process of being consulted for the film, Foley shared details about the process of locating and negotiating for the release of her son. Foley thinks that although director Maryam Keshavarz claims to have made a fictional work, she used and unfairly manipulated details of her personal life to produce a dramatic story.[11]

Reception

The film was met with a mixed to negative response from critics upon its premiere. On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 38% approval rating with an average rating of 5.1/10 based on 34 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Viper Club benefits from Susan Sarandon's committed lead performance, but a treacly script robs this geopolitical drama of any bite."[12] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 57 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[13]

References
  1. Vlessing, Etan (March 21, 2018). "YouTube Buys Susan Sarandon Thriller 'Vulture Club'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  2. Spangler, Todd (March 21, 2018). "YouTube Announces Drama 'Vulture Club' Starring Susan Sarandon In Oscars Bid". Variety. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  3. Marotta, Jenna (March 21, 2018). "YouTube Red Shifts Feature Strategy, Says It Will Release Susan Sarandon-Starring 'Vulture Club' in Theaters". IndieWire. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  4. Spangler, Todd (August 15, 2018). "YouTube's 'Viper Club' Starring Susan Sarandon to Get Theatrical Release by Roadside Attractions". Variety. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
  5. White, Peter (August 15, 2018). "YouTube Partners With Roadside Attractions To Launch Susan Sarandon Thriller 'Viper Club' Theatrically". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  6. Fleming, Mike Jr. (August 14, 2018). "TIFF Adds Sam Taylor-Johnson's 'A Million Little Pieces,' Paul Greengrass' '22 July', Joel Edgerton's 'Boy Erased' To Preem List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  7. Erbland, Kate (August 14, 2018). "TIFF Adds More High-Profile Titles, Including Jonah Hill's 'Mid90s,' 'Boy Erased,' 'Hold the Dark,' and Many More". IndieWire. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  8. "Viper Club". Toronto International Film Festival. Archived from the original on August 17, 2018. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  9. Holub, Christian (September 10, 2018). "Susan Sarandon tries to save her kidnapped son in 'Viper Club' trailer". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  10. Trumbore, Dave (September 10, 2018). "'Viper Club' Trailer Reveals Susan Sarandon in a 'Proof of Life'-Style Drama". Collider. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  11. Harris, Shane (September 12, 2018). "Mother of slain journalist James Foley says filmmaker took their story". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  12. "Viper Club (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  13. "Viper Club (2018)". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
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