At this month’s 43rd edition of the Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival, Death Do Us Part brought medieval fantasy to Providence’s Avon Cinema. The dark period comedy, which had its World Premiere at the festival, which featured a post-screening Q&A. The conversation offered audiences a closer look at the movie’s unusual creative journey.
Co-directors Abigail Ory and David Chávez-Grant were joined by actors Riccardo De Rinaldis Santorelli, Róisín Kane, and Ari’el Stachel, at the Q&A. The conversation revealed how four years of filmmaking transformed a Harvard stage production into a feature.
Death Do Us Part follows follows Giulia (Zara Devlin), an ambitious young healer who dreams of becoming a doctor. But her world changes after she encounters Death (Stachel), who arrives to claim her plague-stricken mentor.
Giulia and Death’s unexpected relationship transforms the film’s exploration of mortality into an unconventional love story. That premise ultimately becomes the foundation for a warm and surprisingly sincere romantic comedy.
1. Death Do Us Part’s soul survived its journey from stage to screen
The first major takeaway was the remarkable continuity between the original play and finished film. Death Do Us Part began as a Harvard production before evolving into a feature over several years. During the Q&A, the filmmakers discussed revisiting the original 2019 script. They discovered that the project’s essential spirit had remained remarkably consistent.
Several details changed to make the story stronger for the screen adaptation. However, the filmmakers credited that original creative compass with keeping the production focused. Even Giulia’s climactic connection to the mask remained closely tied to the stage version. The film’s journey ultimately demonstrates how a strong theatrical foundation can survive cinematic transformation.
2. Folklore becomes accessible fantasy
Death Do Us Part draws from mythology, folklore, and the traditional Death and the Maiden motif. Yet the filmmakers explained that their influences extended beyond direct folklore adaptations. Italo Calvino, James Thurber, and Neil Gaiman helped inspire the film’s distinctive fantasy world. Academic interests in philosophy, folklore, and anthropology also informed its development.
Still, the filmmakers wanted those influences to remain accessible. Audiences are able to appreciate the movie’s themes without needing extensive academic knowledge. That balance gives the screen adaptation an unusual identity within contemporary fantasy. Its intellectual influences support the story without overpowering its humor, romance, or emotional stakes.
3. Music builds the film’s emotional world
Music was another essential element that was discussed during the Q&A. Traditional folk sounds help establish the village as intimate, rural, and tightly connected. That familiarity also created a subtle feeling of confinement within the community. Modern rock and pop elements then disrupted that atmosphere during fantastical sequences.
The filmmakers crafted a balance between medieval music and contemporary sounds. The result mirrors the film’s larger blend of historical and modern sensibilities. Music becomes more than decoration because it shapes the village’s development.
4. Real locations make the fantasy tangible
The production’s Italian locations provided some of Death Do Us Part’s most memorable visual elements. One sequence required approximately 3,000 candles inside a more than 2,000-year-old Roman amphitheater. The filmmakers learned only about 24 hours before filming that the location might become unavailable. As a result, the filmmakers were able to capture the sequence as planned.
The story revealed the enormous logistical challenges behind the finished film. Those challenges also demonstrate the filmmakers’ commitment to practical filmmaking. Instead of creating every fantastical element through computer-generated imagery, they embraced real environments. The result gives Death Do Us Part a tactile quality that strengthens its period fantasy.
5. The characters became more intimate through cinema
The move from theater to film significantly changed the characters’ emotional presence. Without the distance created by a theatrical proscenium, viewers can move closer to their internal experiences. The filmmakers emphasized that this intimacy became particularly important for the performances. The camera allowed emotions to become more immediate and personal.
Stachel’s Death illustrates that transformation especially well. The filmmakers described the stage version as more distant and theatrical. Stachel brought greater warmth, earthiness, and vulnerability to the character. Santorelli similarly described Lorenzo as an optimistic, innocent character who helped him reconnect with a younger part of himself.
The Death Do Us Part Q&A demonstrated that the film’s greatest achievement may be its ability to embrace contradiction. It is simultaneously a period romance, fantasy, comedy, musical, and folklore-inspired story. Its traditional setting contrasts with contemporary musical influences and emotionally recognizable characters. That combination gives the film its distinctive voice.
The five biggest takeaways also reveal how much collaboration shaped the finished project. Ory and Chávez-Grant’s original vision survived years of rewriting, production challenges, and international filmmaking. The cast brought new dimensions to characters that began on a Harvard stage.
By the time Death Do Us Part reached the Avon Cinema, it had become more than an adaptation. It had become a fully realized cinematic world built from folklore, music, performance, and persistence.
Film Factual 