Bungalow when the American dream turns into a nightmare

Bungalow: when the American dream turns into a nightmare

Who has never heard of renovation stories gone wrong? In black comedy bungalowGuillaume Cyr and Sonia Cordeau play a young couple whose dream of owning their own home quickly turns into a nightmare.

Sarah (Sonia Cordeau) and Jonathan (Guillaume Cyr) have just purchased a bungalow that doesn’t look like much and is in very poor condition for a very affordable price. Even if they don’t have a lot of money in their pockets, the two lovebirds are determined to turn this cabin into their dream home.

Guillaume Cyr and Sonia Cordeau in the Black Comedy Bungalow.

Photo courtesy of Opal Films

Guillaume Cyr and Sonia Cordeau in the Black Comedy Bungalow.

But alas, her lack of financial resources will quickly force her to make questionable decisions and make bad decisions. Falling deeper and deeper into the vicious circle of debt and endless work, their everyday life soon becomes hell. How far will they be willing to go to save their dream and love?

Bungalow director and co-writer Lawrence Côté-Collins knows his stuff about renovations. As well as producing renovation shows, she grew up with parents who specialized in real estate flips.

“I’ve spent my life renovating,” the filmmaker says in an interview with the Journal. When I was young, my parents bought old houses, they destroyed and renovated them to sell for a little more. In my first photos as a child you can see me in a diaper with little construction boots! »

“In short, I grew up there. It’s part of my life and it’s my universe. I’ve often wondered why there were so many TV shows about renovations, but we’ve never seen any movies about it. However, renovations are often a nightmare and complicate relationships. I thought it would be a good subject for a comedy. »

Creaky humor

Guillaume Cyr had previously worked with Lawrence Côté-Collins on the short film Score, released in 2011, and was familiar with the director’s scathing humour.

“It’s my favorite kind of humor,” admits the 41-year-old actor. The characters experience dramatic things, but the situations are so horrific and over the top that it becomes comical. In fact, on the film set, we sometimes removed jokes from the text because we felt it fell a little too much into the comic sketch. You had to keep reminding yourself that playing as little as possible was even more fun. »

If the nightmare of renovation is the driving force behind his film’s script, Lawrence Côté-Collins believes that Bungalow is primarily talking about the illusion of the American dream.

“It’s conquering the bungalow,” she says, laughing. The Disney cliché: They lived happily ever after and had many children. I was brainwashed by Disney myself. I got a room from Buzz Lightyear once!

“I’m very cynical. But at the same time it is the cynicism that saves me. I think we’re hitting a wall together and that’s going to be the end of the world in 20 years. That’s also the reason why I don’t have any children. Because I can’t stand the world we live in… But I still prefer to laugh about it! »

bungalow hits theaters on April 7th.