Ride the Eagle, shot in relative isolation with strict Covid protocols and a limited cast, feels like a pandemic movie. It has some heartwarming moments, and reminds its audience there can be much self-discovery in isolation — chosen, or forced. 

The premise is simple, Leif (Jake Johnson, who also co-wrote the script) is contacted by a friend of his mother’s. She has passed away and left him a cabin, but she’s also left some major conditions. Leif only inherits the cabin if he follows the strict instructions she’s left him in a video message. Seeing as the video message from Mom is played by Susan Sarandon, it’s already intriguing to see what she has to say. 

Since Leif doesn’t have much going on, he’s living in a very tiny ADU in his manager’s backyard and is part of a band that's slowly revealed to be going nowhere (and run by an unexpected person too funny to reveal here), Leif is quickly on his way to hear out mommy dearest. 

Johnson’s co-writer is filmmaker Trent O’Donnell, whom he met on the set of New Girl. When the pandemic hit, they decided to take on a film project together. O’Donnell elaborates: “We hadn't done something in a while and we used to always text each other half-baked ideas. We had a friend who had a camera, and we said, 'let’s make something.' We also had the added benefit that we paid for the movie ourselves, so once we started we were able to keep up the momentum and worked on it non-stop. So about three or four months from starting to write and three or four more months to finish the edit and we had a movie.”

O’Donnell and Johnson also had the benefit of assembling some amazing talent. Supporting roles beyond Sarandon include J.K. Simmons as Sarandon’s lover, and D’Arcy Carden as Leif’s “one who got away.” O’Donnell says Sarandon was always the pie in the sky archetype they wrote for when crafting the script.

“Jake had a mutual friend… We sent [Susan] the script and she got back to us four days later and we had an incredible hour and a half phone call with her and she was in. There was nothing good about the pandemic, but if we hadn’t had this time, I don’t know that we would have had these actors. J.K. was also available, and we were able to just email him directly and say ‘hey, do you wanna come do this thing?’ and he was up for it.”

What’s fascinating to watch in the film is that the seasoned, pro-level cast brings such emotion while never interacting in person. O’Donnell said lots of rehearsals helped, but stressed that the whole operation was super bare bones to get it all done safely.

“I was always in the room with them, but because it was the height of the pandemic, the crew was very small and no one who didn’t need to be there was in there. It made it fun but kind of stressful, especially when we were about to shoot with Susan in particular. We were small but still wanted to have an air of professionalism. With J.K., we panicked and went to get a trailer for the day, and then he didn’t end up using it.”

Perhaps the most engrossing relationship (and the one audiences may find themselves rooting for) is Leif and Audrey (Carden). It’s so cleverly set up that Honey (Sarandon) has specifically requested Leif contact the one that got away. When it just so happens Audrey is going through a break-up and their phone chemistry is off the charts, it seems the pair are made for each other. O’Donnell said all their rehearsals really allowed the actors to play.

“Jake was also on the phone with D’Arcy the whole time, but we shot all of Jake’s side of the phone call with me reading D’Arcy’s stuff. In rehearsal, I would also record them and have them watch it back and get the idea and the rhythm of what they were doing. I think it really helped them to get in more nuance and notice little mannerisms.” 

For the most part, Leif goes along with many of Honey’s requests without too much questioning or balking — a generous gesture for a guy who was abandoned by his Mom so she could leave for a cult when he was just 12. Nevertheless, Honey is desperate to leave him with some takeaways from her as a mother, even if it’s via the afterlife. And O’Donnell does believe Leif learns from her.

“Ultimately, I hope he learns not to hold a grudge,” he muses. “You don’t get a prize for being the one who holds a grudge the longest. I didn’t want it to be preachy. Neither Leif nor Honey is completely right or wrong. Unfortunately, the thing with human instinct is to blame the other person and decide you are done with them, but I think Leif sees the bigger picture.”

O’Donnell also successfully pulls off the trick of a one-location movie that remains feeling vibrant throughout. He advises to think on as many ways as possible to keep a one-location movie interesting: “We walked and hiked hours away from the cabin and used the locations we found, so we are not seeing the same thing over and over. We also did plan the film around what we had, so we would never be compromising too much. Covid or no Covid, this would be the way we would’ve done this movie.”

O’Donnell says despite the challenges, he loved the experience and that he’s already setting out to make more projects in conjunction with Johnson. “Jake is just such an excellent writer. That was actually his background before acting. I just enjoy writing with him. He counters my writing in a really nice way. He has a lovely grounded sense to all of his comedy, and always makes sure things feel real. I might push something too heightened, and he will take the edges off. We also don’t have to worry about hurting each other’s feelings if something isn't working because we are such good friends.”

DECAL released Ride the Eagle in theaters, On Demand and Digital on July 30, 2021.