rubberband. Team Up With Gucci For the Ultimate Sun-Drenched Micro Thriller

‘Attraction, suspicion, power’ - these are the forces at play in Gucci Lido’s campaign film (photographed by Jim Goldberg), according to the directors behind it - Jason Sondock and Simon Davis of rubberband. (who are signed by production companySMUGGLER). In the minute-long film, Daisy Edgar-Jones reaches into her Gucci bag, retrieving an item obscured from our view (enclosed in her fist), while actors Aliocha Schneider and David Jonsson compete to surmise what this mysterious object could be. All three cast their minds back to the intimate sun-drenched events of their stay at the Amalfi clubhouse where they reside, as a montage of past and present collides, exploring the play between voyeurism and the knowledge of being watched.

At the core of the Gucci Lido campaign is nothing but the ultimate celebration of summer. Through the rich cinematic lens of rubberband., playful moments of spontaneity and relaxation are enveloped in the faint afternoon breeze of the Mediterranean, followed by enchanting liminal evenings where time slows, even stops. Wet footprints on poolside marble floors, bare skin against soft dry bed linen, perfectly ripe sliced summer fruits, and the warmth of easy company (and sun-scorched surroundings) may create the ultimate collage of escapism but it must be noted that this Talented Mr. Ripley-esque drama is also elevated tenfold by the incredible cast that features. ‘As with any short-form piece, casting is everything, and we got really lucky. Daisy (Edgar-Jones), David (Jonsson), and Aliocha (Schneider) had incredible chemistry, and they were game to dive right in - even with very little time to prep', the directing duo exclusively told SHOWstudio. 'The energy between them gave the film its texture and tension’.

As ‘staunch idea people', rubberband. are seldom attracted by the brands they work with (although of course, Gucci was always going to be a pull). For them, it's instead all about the concept. ‘Whether we’re working with a fashion brand or a toilet paper brand or ultimately on our own work, if we have an interesting concept, something worth exploring, then we will do it, no questions asked.’ they told us earlier this year. And what's more alluring than a who's-watching-who thriller in the sun? As alluded to above, 'the reference point Riccardo (Zanola) brought up early on was The Talented Mr. Ripley', rubberband. noted before going on to mention how 'that gave us a great starting place: this idea of a sun-drenched psychological game where you’re never quite sure who desires whom, or who might be dangerous.' Each star's relative experience also contributed to this game of cat and mouse thanks to Jonsson’s 2023 role as Luke Fitzwilliam in Agatha Christie's Murder is Easy, Edgar-Jones' role in Where the Crawdads Sing plus everyone's hit pandemic watch Normal People (both of which were emotionally ambiguous) as well as Schneider’s history starring in the 2019 twilight-fueled romance Pompei.

'We started riffing on a structure that played like a micro thriller', rubberband. told us. 'Something that could live within the short format but still carry tension and intrigue. We liked the idea of a three-way dynamic: attraction, suspicion, power. Pretty quickly, we realised that for a 'cat and mouse' story to work, we needed a cat, and we started leaning into Daisy’s character as someone more calculating, taking on a kind of Tom Ripley role'. Expanding on this further, the duo noted that the structure they built with Gucci 'revolved around this guessing game at the centre, where each wrong answer unlocked a small moment of friction or chemistry between the trio. There was one scene we actually changed the day before shooting. Originally, it played differently, but in talking with Riccardo, we decided to make it a bit more playful and had Daisy push Aliocha into the pool. It added a lighter touch to their tension, which felt right in the moment.'

The short's crescendo arrives at the centre of the film; 'the moment everything hinges on', rubberband. said. 'It was the final thing we shot, under a bit of time pressure, but also the most rewarding. It had the most dialogue, the most nuance, and it’s where everything crystallises. Watching the actors play off one another in that scene was definitely the highlight for us.' As for who took the lead, rubberband. made it clear as day this campaign film was nothing but one of total collaboration. 'Gucci really embraced the idea and trusted us to lean into the tone we were after, which made the process feel incredibly collaborative', the directing duo stated. After all, what's more perfect than a micro thriller featuring a trio of stellar actors, dressed in Gucci, filmed by one of the industry's most-wanted directing duos in town? Truly, not much.