Young Love began with a scrap of dialogue for a girl eagerly pressing her boyfriend to describe one of his sex fantasies. There was a lot of fun banter as she teased the fantasy out of him, and it seemed from there that the conversation could go anywhere. The most interesting possibilities arose when there was conflict between his fantasies and hers, and I was especially interested in versions where she had a secret to keep. Sex fantasies can be so vivid, so laden with psychological symbols, and often so problematic—sometimes the things we fantasize about are at odds with our values or the politics of our waking lives. This tension is magnified when the stylized violence and stark power dynamics of sexual fantasies are set against the terror of actual violence in the life of someone we love.
From its playful beginnings, the script became a chance to explore the way couples, especially young or inexperienced ones, talk about Tough Subjects. It was important to me that the film not devolve into a sense- memory exercise where Rich’s character “relived” the traumatic experiences of his past. Just the opposite, actually—he’s trying not to freak his girlfriend out. Of course, he doesn’t know her secret—the revelation of which becomes the through line of the story. |
