Ian Ebright makes his feature directorial with the 2024 drama titled “The Way We Speak”. The film highlights the life of Simon, an aspiring author with Patrick Fabian as his character. His life, however, takes a turn for the worse when his friend and debate peer goes unresponsive during one of the competitions. Simon’s attitude clashes with that of his former friend as instead of retreating to the background Robinson chooses to fixate on his newly found opponent, Sarah Clawson who is played by Kailey Rhodes. As his obsession grows, so does the deteriorating relationship with his wife, Claire, played by Diana Coconubo.
Cast and Crew:
Reed Diamond as Charles (voice)
Patrick Fabian as Simon Harrington
Diana Coconubo as Claire Harrington
Kailey Rhodes as Sarah Clawson
Ayanna Berkshire as Annette Davis
Lowell Deo as Terence Stand
Ricco DiStefano as George Rossi
Critical Reception:
The film has been positively evaluated by critics, with a 7.6/10 rating on IMDb. RogerEbert.com’s Matt Zoller Seitz calls it ‘an ambitious drama’ with ‘uniformly excellent’ performances. According to Kristy Strouse from Film Inquiry, “This is a strong and ambitious drama that demonstrates the power of words.”
Themes and Style:
The frindings examine ambition, self, and moral conflicts of an intellectual. This film is very close in structure and spirit to Aaron Sorkin’s scripts, especially with regard to the ideas of conflict in the personal and work spheres.
Availability:
“The Way We Speak” was released on July 23, 2024, and is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
