“The Killing of Two Lovers” is a story about a marriage that is falling apart.
David, played by Clayne Crawford, has a hard time dealing with these problems. He and his wife, Nikki, played by Sepideh Moafi, decide they need some space while they try to figure out what they want from the relationship. The problem, however, is that David doesn’t want space. They agree they can see other people, but David struggles when he sees his wife’s new relationship.
In a question-and-answer session following a screening of the film at the Sundance Film Festival, the director, Robert Machoian, stated that the filmmakers chose Kanosh, Utah, as the filming location because the movie had been written there. The filmmakers wanted a small-town dynamic for this short film turned feature, plus their ability to shoot all day, every day with very minimal interruptions helped the filming process.
“The Killing of Two Lovers” does not use a regular soundtrack like most others do. Instead, filmmakers chose a more overt approach, using unique sound effects that get more and more intense, instead of music. The idea was to accentuate the sounds of David’s life and to bring more awareness to what he is going through.
“We wanted to have the actors more exist in photographs rather than just do the regular, brighter shots,” Machoian says while explaining the dark, mood-setting cinematography. This method reflects Machoian’s background as photography instructor at Brigham Young University.
