George Clooney says there are 'misconceptions' about Suburbicon

The film starring Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, and Oscar Isaac is not a comedy, insists the director

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The Matt Damon-starring Suburbicon (out Oct. 27) has been routinely described as a “comedy” in the media — albeit a black one. But director George Clooney explains that really isn’t the case.

“There’s some misconceptions,” says the Ocean’s Eleven actor, whose previous directing credits include 2005’s Good Night, and Good Luck and 2011’s The Ides of March. “They keep calling it a ‘comedy’ and you’d be hard-pressed to find a lot of funny in it. It’s a pretty angry and dark film, which is sort of what we wanted to make at the time. Every time I see someone go, ‘Yeah, it’s a black-comedy!’ you go, ‘There’s a couple of laughs, but it wasn’t designed to be ha-ha funny.'”

In the film, Damon, Julianne Moore, and Noah Jupe (The Night Manager) play a ’50s-era family who are the victims of a home invasion, while Oscar Isaac portrays a suspicious investigator. The script was originally written by Clooney’s regular collaborators the Coen brothers but has been reworked by the director and his producing partner, Grant Heslov.

So, how would Clooney describe the film?

“It’s very very dark,” he says. “It starts out feeling like a Disney film and, by the end, it feels like it takes a pretty dramatic, serious turn to, like, an acid trip of some form.”

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Watch the trailer for Suburbicon above and see an exclusive image from the film, below.

SUBURBICON
Hilary Bronwyn Gay/Paramount

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