Interview: Stephan Rick (The Good Neighbor)

Hi Stephan, oh my gosh, I loved The Good Neighbor. This cast was awesome. Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Luke Klentank, and Bruce Davidson. This movie was so unexpected, I did not expect what happened to happen. It was wild. How did this idea manifest for you?

S.R.- You may or may not know but The Good Neighbor is a remake of one of my own German debut feature-films. I did that film in 2011. The original idea came from my own neighbor who was almost my age but a little bit older. I felt he was watching me from his room because there was always this shadow behind the curtain. I kept thinking what would happen if he knew some kind of secret about me, and I had to become his friend. It turns out it was a basketball sitting on a shelf. It was my own paranoia. I always loved the nineties thrillers.

They don’t make movies like this. It was such a great film. Like reading a mystery book, and trying to solve the mystery.

S.R.- Thank you.

How did you get the cast prepared?

S.R.- That’s a really good question. Jonathan and Luke were on my list of favorites. Jonathan was so intense and inspiring. He’s not afraid to bring his darkest side to the screen.

Oh, The Super was a fun film too.

S.R.- Thank you.

What are you working on next?

S.R.- I’m heading to Germany for a project.

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me today. It was an honor. I loved The Good Neighbor.

S.R.- Thank you.

In THE GOOD NEIGHBOR, a nightmarish evening in Latvia unfolds when neighbors David (Luke Kleintank) who has just been reassigned for work as a journalist work and Robert (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene of the crime. When the women’s sister arrives searching for the truth, Robert does unspeakable things to protect their secret. The film is a remake of the German thriller, Unter Nachbarn, which marked Rick’s feature film debut. Coming full circle, Rick now revisits his Hitchcockian thriller ten years after the making to terrify American audiences with the same question: “How well do you know your neighbor?”

www.imdb.com/name/nm1357855/