To say that the current state of our world lives by cancel culture and the rush to judgment of our friends and neighbors is an understatement. Documentary filmmaker turned actor and comedic narrative director David White examines this trend in his new film, This Town. Driven by small-town New Zealanders judging a neighbor who suffered an unthinkable tragedy — and was initially accused of a heinous crime — this satirical look at cancel culture is both funny and moving. 

White said the idea for the movie came to him from hanging out with a friend. “I have a friend who is an ex-gang member. He has all these scars and tattoos, and we started talking about prejudice and what it was like when he walks down the street. People automatically assume something about him. The idea of prejudice started to formulate and I thought about what could be the worst thing people think of someone. I thought what if an entire family was killed and they assumed it was you who had done it, even though you were acquitted? But people have made up their minds about you anyway. It felt like fertile ground to examine prejudice and judgment. Then I thought we should make that into a comedy.” 

Sean (played by White himself) is the hero/anti-hero at the center of the narrative. The town has passed their judgment on him, so he’s a loner with one friend and takes just about any job he can get. Sean’s life starts to change when his best friend encourages him to put himself out there on a dating app. When Sean does so, he quickly meets Casey (Alice May Connolly). They connect over Chinese food and Casey seems to think Sean is a good guy (and maybe not a murderer).

But Sean and Casey’s love story is not an easy one. Sean is being hounded by a bumbling Sheriff and a not much better local reporter (not to mention the town at large). There are also an extreme amount of guns. Like everywhere. It’s a strange undercurrent that is not unspoken. In The Office-style confessional interviews, the New Zealand townies espouse just how much they love their guns. To White, this was an important point to make.

“I tried to touch on a lot of controversial topics. I wanted to talk about these topics, but not try to solve them. With the gun control thing, if there’s a murder, often a reaction is to buy more guns. I always find those arguments to be incredibly hilarious.”

White’s mockumentary style is often bitingly hilarious indeed. White leaned into the style because of his documentary background, “For me, it wasn't only an extension of that world I had come from, but also a budget thing as well. This is a relatively small budget film, and my first comedy, so I sort of knew the price point we could do stuff within. It was also an extension of where I had come from in documentary land. I was very comfortable stepping into that world, and on top of that, I knew I wanted to stretch our budget to get more shoot days, or spend more time on performance rather than have more toys. If you get a story right, and people resonate with it, then they tell their friends and you don’t need all the bells and whistles.”

In a film where the judgmental townies are critical to story execution, the setting feels just as important. The rural New Zealand setting feels beautiful, harsh and isolating all at once. White returned to his hometown to shoot the film.

“There is so much untapped beauty in that town… When writing the locations, they say write what you know. So I did that. There’s a fireplace in the middle of a paddock with some trees, and I knew that sort of thing was around in Hawk’s Bay. I also knew the people would rally around us, and it was pretty inspiring. It became their film, in a way. I would call a friend of mine and ask, ‘do u know where this chimney is?’ And we’d drive to this place and it’d be perfect.”

While White is unsure if mockumentary will remain his genre of choice, he worked hard to make the genre work for him: “There’s a joke in every scene,” he states proudly. “In the back of every shot, there’s a joke. There is always a poster or some strange thing there. In the police station, for example, there’s a room full of all these folders. We didn't make that, but we said, 'okay we’ve got a room with folders in it. This is our evidence room.' I was constantly trying to just be like, ‘what’s around me?’”

White thinks the small town mockumentary feel lends itself well to the subject matter. “I think there’s a thing in New Zealand where murders are rarer than in other parts of the world. A murder that happened in such a small place will remain in the court of public opinion and it’s very hard to break out of that, especially if the media have skewed the news stories a certain way. There is a thing around that stuff that funnels you into [a certain line of] thinking, and that’s why people still think Sean is dangerous [in the film].”

Regardless, Sean is easy to root for. Perhaps it’s because his love for Casey feels so pure. Also, much credit is due to White, who so delicately balances a tone of satire, underlying pain, and local flair that feels wholly unique.

“I constantly remember what Gene Wilder said, ‘Don’t make it funny, make it true.’ And when you are writing you have to make sure that when the character responds to the situation, it will be truthful yet also amusing. This idea that Alex (Sean’s best friend) is gonna buy more guns... That person would do that, but it’s also a commentary on gun control. That’s where we’re trying to walk that line. It’s ridiculous, but also very funny trying to create realness for the characters in making sure their reactions are amusing, but also move story forward.”

White doesn’t hesitate as the story continues to dig into one controversial issue after another (and throw continuous obstacles at Casey and Sean’s love story). When Casey finds herself unexpectedly pregnant, he brings his leads back to the court of public opinion all over again when she seeks to end the pregnancy. White never shies away from a difficult conversation in this film.

“I grew up Catholic and we had these conversations quite openly, especially with my sisters. It really played in my mind as a writer and as a man. Is it okay for me to talk about this stuff? I talked to the actress who plays Casey, and she advocated for me not to change how it played out in the script, and we kept it in. I had friends of mine call me and say they are really proud it’s in there, and it’s obviously a big decision for those two characters — it’s part of the film, but not a huge part of the film. These are decisions for people to make individually, and not for other people to make for them. That’s the reason for it being in there. I don’t think it’s my job to say the solution to any of these issues, but it’s my job to bring up these things so we can talk about them more.” 

It’s clear the court of public opinion in New Zealand agrees with White’s decision to examine prejudice in various societal decisions focused on in the film. “It’s being used in New Zealand schools to have these conversations. It’s amazing to me that this comedy film is being used to talk about this stuff.”

No ultimate spoilers as to how Sean and Casey’s love story turns out, but a small hint: Sean’s life does start to get better. In a chorus of judgmental voices, White has a favorite character heads and tails above the rest: “Casey is my favorite character in this film. I want us all to be more like her in the ways that she just doesn't judge a book by its cover. She just says, ‘I understand all of these people have said things about you, but I am going to meet you and talk to you and make up my own mind.”

There’s no ultimate answer for Sean or for this town that needed a mirror of self-reflection. But White probably likes it that way. Better not to pass ultimate judgment and give the townspeople a shot — just like Casey would do. 

This Town is now streaming on Amazon.