Michael Polish explains the unusual process he and his twin brother Mark Polish underwent to film the movie There There. Michael Polish has been directing movies for over 25 years, making his feature debut with Twin Falls Idaho, which he co-wrote with Mark. Since then, Michael Polish has gone on to direct several other movies, including Big Sur, The Astronaut Farmer, and Amnesiac. His most recent work is directing the Sylvester Stallone action movie Alarum. Mark Polish is an actor and writer and has not yet directed a feature film.

In an exclusive interview with ScreenRant for his film Alarum, Michael Polish explained the unusual process he and his brother used to shoot There There. Michael and Mark sH๏τ two completely separate stories of twin brothers, without knowledge of what the other person sH๏τ. Plot-wise, the twins are adopted and do not find out they are twins until later in life. Check out the full quote from Michael Polish below:

Okay, so to put it in a thimble, Mark directed a story about a twin and I directed a story about a twin. They both later in life find out that they’re twins, they know that they’re adopted, but obviously what you’re getting at is we don’t know what each other sH๏τ. We just know that we meet at a certain day at the Brooklyn Bridge and we meet as brothers, but I have no clue what he did and he has no clue what I did. So when we’re in the editing room, which we are, it’s just fascinating how many things are identical. That’s fascinating.

We haven’t done a movie in a decade together, so we’ve lived separate lives for a while, but it just was inherent. For instance, my best friend in the movie’s name’s Emmett, and his name is Emmett. His character’s name’s Emmett. So that’s his stuff. It’s just popping off. It starts to fascinate me. The twin experience is real.

When asked to clarify, he stated that these scenes are interwoven throughout There There, but the brothers did not see the others’ scenes until they filmed it.

Yeah, they’re interweaving with each other. So they’ll be Mark’s A-story or B-story. And the likeness is where you sort of cut, where you know that he finds out, I find out, and what our reactions are, the oddness of it. In my film, my mother pᴀsses away and she’s able to, in the will, tell me you have somebody else. And in Mark’s movie, his dad pᴀsses away. So it’s a real funny mirror because I had no idea what he was doing.

Lastly, Michael Polish was asked if there was a release date, to which he confirmed it is not currently slated yet.

No, there’s going to be a premiere. Probably Cannes or Telluride. It’ll probably be a fall release. It feels like a fall release.

What This Means For There There

There There Has A Unique Process

As Michael Polish mentions, the real-life twin brothers have worked together, but it has been a while. As such, they probably had a sense of how each other worked, but the gap also allowed them time to develop their own creative styles. Still, it sounds like even the twins were fascinated by how much overlap they ended up having in their two stories. For example, both had a parent die in their twin’s storyline, creating a very “funny mirror” between the two stories.

This filming format only really works because of the nature of There There‘s plot. The early synopsis states that there are twin characters, who live separately for 40 years, spending most of that time unaware of each other’s existence. Once they find out about each other, they are forced to confront harsh realities. There There features a leading cast including Shannyn Sossamon, Gretchen Mol, Corbin Bernsen, D.W. Moffett, Zack Pearlman, Duncan Vezain, and Logan Polish.

Our Take On There There’s Filming Strategy

Will The Film Feel Disjointed?

Michal Polish does not completely address how he and Mark Polish dealt with the scenes wherein the two brothers come together. As such, it will be interesting to see how coherent the narrative ends up, despite filming separately. The film festival circuit will likely be a good avenue to showcase There There, as the movie is handled in a very unique way and could benefit from in-depth Q&As about this process to give it intriguing press before releasing.