Life for any parent is defined by their relationship with their children, especially when they’re each other’s closest companion. The new crime thriller, ‘Barron’s Cove,’ proves that a parent and child’s bond is so strong it will always survive, and can even overcome death. The movie takes an intimate look at such a strong bond by testing the relationship to its limits

Well Go USA is distributing ‘Barron’s Cove’ in theaters and On VOD today, June 6, 2025. The feature’s official release comes after it had its World Premiere at the 2024 Hamptons International Film Festival.

The drama stars Garrett Hedlund (‘Tulsa Kings,’ ‘Mudbound’), Hamish Linklater (‘The Big Short,’ ‘Fantastic Four’), Brittany Snow (‘Pitch Perfect’ franchise, ‘Hairspray’), Christian Convery (‘Cocaine Bear,’ ‘Sweet Tooth’), Tramell Tillman (‘Severance’), Raúl Castillo (‘Smile 2,’ ‘Looking’) and Stephen Lang (‘Avatar’ franchise, ‘Don’t Breathe’). ‘Barron’s Cove’ marks the feature film debut by writer and director Evan Ari Kelman.

‘Barron’s Cove’ follows Caleb (Hedlund), a father with a violent past, as he grieves the sudden loss of his only child. Convinced of a cover-up and intent on obtaining answers about his son’s death, he kidnaps the troubled boy he holds responsible – the son of a prominent local politician – which ignites a media firestorm and frenzied manhunt. But as he grows ever closer to uncovering the truth, he is left to wonder whether his pursuers are really seeking to protect the boy, or merely the secrets he keeps.

Kelman generously took the time recently to talk about penning and helming ‘Barron’s Cove’ during an exclusive interview over Zoom. Among other things, the filmmaker discussed that he was inspired to scribe and direct the project because he wanted to create a crime thriller that felt authentic and realistic. He also praised Hedlund’s approach to portraying Caleb’s vulnerability and desperation about finding answers about his son’s death.

Film Factual (FF): You wrote the script for the new crime thriller, ‘Barron’s Cove.’ What was your inspiration in penning the screenplay?

Evan Ari Kelman (EAK): This whole process really started back when I was at NYU. I graduated in 2015 with the goal of being a feature director and telling stories in a feature space.

I spent many years trying to write a producible feature that felt authentic to me. It took me a little bit of time to find the right vessel and the right story for me to pour myself into, and create the themes, conflicts and characters that I like to play with.

Eventually, I had a script that I liked and felt was good enough. So I sent it to the Nicholl Fellowships, which is a screenplay competition run by the Academy. It became a semi-finalist, and the Nichol Fellowships then published a list of the films it chose as semi-finalists with their loglines.

Thankfully, from that I received a few calls, including one from Mandalay Pictures. They really loved the script and the concept. They were excited to work with a first-time feature director.

So from there, we were off to the races on the casting, financing and producing. It took a couple more years, and here we are now, at the other end of a very long process

FF: Speaking of the actors, how did you approach casting the film, and deciding which actors would fit the characters?

EAK: It was a team effort. It was me putting together ideas for who could play each role. Caleb, in particular, is a very complicated and raw role that requires a lot of intense emotional capacity.

I had a conversation with the producers about who we know, who’s in our network and who our casting directors have worked with before. One of our producers incredibly had Garrett’s information, and basically said, “I think he’s going to respond to this if we send it to him.”

So we went for it and sent him the script, along with a note from me. Thankfully, he loved it, and he understood the story and its value, as well as why it needed to be told. He jumped right on board, and it’s been a dream come true ever since.

FF: Once Garrett signed on to play Caleb in ‘Barron’s Cove,’ how did you work with him to build the character and the overall story?

EAK: Garrett is one of the greatest collaborators on the planet. He is wildly intuitive. He understood this character as well as me, or better than I could.

He was my other half in building this character in many ways. He understood what we were trying to do so intuitively that we almost didn’t have to talk very much. All we needed to really talk about was the arc, and when to push and when to hold back.

Of course, we were collaborating on Caleb’s motivations and feeling, and everything happening under the surface. But he understood what I was trying to do as a screenwriter perfectly. That made the collaboration as an actor and the director so incredibly seamless.

I almost barely had to direct him. I gave him ideas, and we collaborated and tried different things. Of course, that is directing, but he was my partner in this.

I couldn’t ask for a better working relationship. I don’t know if I’ll ever have one that intuitive ever again.

FF: In terms of the directing, the project marks your feature film directorial debut, like you mentioned earlier, after you previously helmed several shorts. How did previously directing the shorts help you direct a feature like this one? What was your overall approach to helm ‘Barron’s Cove?’

EAK: That’s a really great question. Making this film was like packing 500 years of grad school into a couple years.

There are so many pieces that go into making a feature film at this level that you could never imagine. You’re not prepared for it in film school, or in life. Everything from the creative challenges to the behind-the-scenes negotiations and compromises that you have to do is challenging.

The different ways that you need to inspire people to get on board are challenging. You have limitations, which prevent you from something you want to do. There are union and payroll rules that play a part in that.

I thought that by coming off of shorts, making a feature would be easy, but it wasn’t. I’ll give you one example of why.

While making this film, there was a beautiful view outside of my hotel room. So you would think it would be, the easiest thing to bring the camera up and get a shot of this perfect cityscape that’s outside. Everything you’ve ever imagined is all right there outside of your hotel room. So you think, let’s bring the camera in and let’s shoot it.

But with a film at this level, you actually can’t do that, even if you wanted to and the crew is willing to do it, which they were. But there are all these sorts of limitations that you can’t possibly plan for.

But at the same time, obviously, it’s extremely rewarding to make a film like this because there are so many people that are working so hard on it. They’re giving their all to an indie film. It requires every single person to go above and beyond.

Nobody is in it because it’s just another job. Everyone is doing it because they care. That makes it an experience unlike any other. Of course, to say that it’s worth it would be the ultimate understatement.

FF: Speaking of the camera work, the drama was shot by cinematographer Matthew Jensen. How did you collaborate to decide how you would visually shoot the movie?

EAK: Well, Matthew Jensen is one of the greatest cinematographers working today. He shot ‘Wonder Woman,’ episodes of ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Chronicle.’ He’s a master and has done a lot of great work. So thankfully, I knew I could rely on him to make ‘Barron’s Cove’ look great.

Our collaboration started with talking about the scenes, the tone, the settings and the locations, of course. We also looked at references, including stills from paintings, other films and photography.

We also spoke about composition, color, tone and atmosphere, and why something in this scene is a certain way. We also asked ourselves, what are the colors that we’re leaning into, especially when we’re evoking a certain emotion to be channeled more so than another emotion?

He’s an incredible artist, and is very smart and intellectual. He can really get into the weeds on the deeper rational for why we should go with one decision over another decision.

FF: Also speaking about the locations, how did you decide where you wanted to shoot ‘Barron’s Cove?’ How did you incorporate them into the story once you began filming?

EAK: That’s another really great question. Well, it started with a list that I was given from my producers, I think it was, like, 10 states that had great tax incentives and production capabilities. I then looked at the geographical requirements of my film.

I needed a small city or town that still had some history and some political potential for the type of conspiracy and family storytelling that I wanted to do.

But it also had to be small enough so that this kind of story could realistically happen there. I needed something near the ocean, because water is a big theme in this movie. The whole climax at the end takes place on water, so I needed it to be near water.

Barron’s Cove is the name of the lake house where a lot of the action takes place, so I needed a lake. I also wanted a mountainous region around the house that the story is situated in, so it can have its own quiet space.

So, once we took all of those things into consideration, there was really only one place that this story could be told, realistically. That turned out to be the Berkshires in Massachusetts. We found this great little city there, Springfield, and it was perfect.

As soon as I Googled it and I saw their town square, it was exactly what I had imagined when I was writing the script. It had this perfect park, and this gazebo right in the center. I had written a scene that took place in a gazebo in a park just like this. It also had beautiful buildings in the background that gave it a sense of history that I needed for the story. As soon as I saw that picture of the park. I knew it was where we needed to shoot the film.

FF: How did you work with the actors, especially Garrett, to build the stunts and physicality for their roles?

EAK: Well, in terms of the stunts, we had an amazing stunt coordinator, Corey Pierno, who has done incredible work on a lot of films. He also recently worked on ‘The Penguin.’

I think he was everybody’s favorite person on set because he’s so likeable, friendly and knowledgeable. He’s also solution-oriented and fun.

Honestly, one of my favorite parts of making this film was working with him on the stunts. It’s so satisfying working with a stunt coordinator who can actually create a fight scene that feels authentic, raw and real. Then it just works on camera flawlessly.

That was one of my happiest moments on set. We had this really cool stunt where Garrett took somebody’s head and smashed him into a table, and all these things exploded. I remember watching that take. I was literally blown away myself. I was like, wow, that looked incredible.

We then watched it again and again. The entire crew was celebrating this one perfect take. It was so rewarding.

In terms of the physicality of the character, it’s written into the script that Caleb is a dangerously capable person who’s got a history of violence. He’s done difficult things for people as a consequence of working for his uncle.

He even says, “I can choke out a person in 60 seconds,” or something along those lines – I forgot the exact words. But part of his physicality is central to his character and him being a danger. So, all of that sort of works together, and I think really brings in the tone that we wanted for this film.