“She was on her way to a race, she didn’t know that she would be running for her life,” former NFL star turned filmmaker Simeon Rice said of his new film “Unsullied.” The movie hits theatres nationwide on Friday (Aug. 28).
Rice co-wrote and directed the film that follows a young track star Reagan Farrow in her quest to escape the sadists who took her captive.
The action/horror/suspense hybrid is the first feature length film for Rice, who is best known for his 12-year career as a defensive end in the National Football League.
Rice is relishing in his unlikely career transition from on the field to behind the lens and eager to be as effective as a writer/director as during his days as a first round draft pick to all-pro defensive end.
“There aren’t too many things that are similar between the two,” Rice said as he compared filmmaking to the NFL. “But if there was one thing that was strikingly similar it was the environment of working with a team.”
Rice, a 2009 graduate of the New York Film Academy made his directorial debut with the short film “When I was King” back in 2011.
It was the instantly recognizable work of the filmmaking team Joel and Ethan Cohen, known collectively as The Cohen Brothers, that served as the inspiration for him to create “Unsullied.”
‘So I’m watching this movie called ‘No Country For Old Men,’” Rice said. “And there’s this scene with the pit bull chasing after this guy. Man…that level of anxiety that I saw…I was literally at the edge of my seat.”
His voice seemed to revisit the moment as he proceeded to illustrate the scene.
“I was like ‘I can watch an entire film with this level of anxiety.’ I felt like the movie was an experience. And I was like ‘I want to do a film like that.’”
And so he did.
“Unsullied” sees Reagan fall for a potentially deadly trap after a detour on the day of her big meet.
The crux of the story is about the “ultimate race” she endures following her captivity, but Rice manages to weave in tender moments that fuel her to keep going.
“To do a story like this you aren’t going to be able to get a back story or coming of age story in the film,” Rice said. “But I wanted to be really respectful of the black family. I wanted to attack some of those elements to show a different side of black culture – not the negative side, but the positive side.”
So in her story, the audience is clued into the lifetime of strength and support her family has provided her with via flashbacks and encouragements she relives in preparation for the meet.
Her harrowing attempt to escape captivity will call her to use every tip and tool she has learned from her family and her coaches if she is to survive.
“I like that she has to save herself,” Rice said. “Typically in these types of films, a man steps in and comes to save the day – even if it’s unbeknownst to her – to be the hero. But this is a story that is built around coming of age.
So everything she has experienced – even if it’s new to her and she wasn’t ready for it – she was prepared.”
As Reagan runs for her life, he hopes that the audience watching the film – and fans riding with him on yet another bucket list career – will see the bigger picture thanks to “Unsullied.”
“I want people to be inspired,” Rice said. “I want people to know that I’m you and you are me. We arrive at these points because of us.
You are in control of your life and every decision you’ve made from the little to the biggest has consequently affected your life. Even in the non-choice there is still a choice.
We bear fruits in our lives based on what we see in ourselves. If you don’t make excuses, you make room for a lot more results.”
Careful to not create any spoilers, Rice said he hopes that viewers will let the message he managed to weave around the action packed experience of “Unsullied” sink in.
“Hope springs eternal for those who look for it,” Rice said of the moral of his story.
“No matter what you go through or what you have to endure, as long as you have hope – and stay faithful to it – then you’ll have the opportunity to make it through those tough times.”
Unsullied opens in theatres nationwide on Friday, August 28. The film is rated R with a running time of 93 minutes.
