Alison Brie and her husband Dave Franco have been stepping behind the camera recently. Brie co-wrote the great film Horse Girl, along with the recent movie Spin Me Round; Franco wrote and directed the underrated thriller The Rental. Together, the couple have written the upcoming film Somebody I Used to Know, which Franco will direct and Brie will star in, alongside a cast she raved about recently to MovieWeb — Haley Joel Osment, Jay Ellis, Amy Sedaris, Zoe Chao, Kiersey Clemons, and her adored Community co-star Danny Pudi.

Somebody I Used to Know will be a change from Franco’s Brie-starring horror-thriller debut — a modernized twist on classic ’80s and ’90s romantic comedies, the film chronicles Ally’s midlife crisis of sorts as she returns to her hometown and spends a night down memory lane, revisiting her previous relationship with ex-boyfriend Sean. Between Sean and a new acquaintance, the young and hopeful Cassidy, Ally is forced to confront her life choices and question who she was, who she is, and who she might become.

Somebody I Used to Know is Finished

     IFC FilmsAMC+

Brie told MovieWeb that she felt great about the film, which is now ready to go and out of her hands:

The recent shift Brie and Franco took to producing, writing, and directing largely stems from wanting more control over their own projects. The two are obviously famous actors, with Brie attracting a wide range of audiences for the modern classic TV shows Community, Mad Men, and GLOW, along with a litany of great film work; Franco has been hilarious onscreen ever since his appearance in Superbad, and has frequently become a highlight of many big movies, including 21 Jump Street, Now You See Me, and Neighbors, not to mention his scene-stealing role in the recent Netflix vampire movie Day Shift.

Alison Brie on Making Her Own Art

     Apple TV+

However, being able to choose your characters and films is important to the incredibly creative couple. Brie told us:

I just wanted to write some different types of roles for myself to play, as superficial as that might sound. I think there was a desire in my downtime, not even about feeling like it was roles that I hadn’t gotten a chance to play, but just a desire to make art. You know, as actors, sometimes you can feel pretty powerless in terms of waiting for work to come your way. And so I think [we] wanted to create something just to be making something, and to have an artistic outlet.