''Four'' is a 2012 American independent feature film written and directed by Joshua Sanchez. It is based on the 1998 play of the same name by

Christopher Shinn Christopher Shinn (born 1975) is an American playwright. His play ''Dying City'' (2006) was a finalist for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and ''Where Do We Live'' (2004) won the 2005 Obie Award, Playwriting. Early life Shinn was born in Hartf ...

. The film stars

Wendell Pierce Wendell Edward Pierce (born December 8, 1963) is an American actor and businessman. Having trained at Juilliard School, Pierce rose to prominence as a character actor portraying roles both on the stage and screen. He first gained notoriety portra ...

Emory Cohen Emory Isaac Cohen (born March 13, 1990) is an American actor. He made his feature film debut in ''Afterschool'' (2008). He is best known for his roles as AJ Cross in Derek Cianfrance's film ''The Place Beyond the Pines'' (2012), Tony Fiorello i ...

Aja Naomi King Aja Naomi King (; born January 11, 1985) is an American actress. She played Michaela Pratt in ''How to Get Away with Murder''. She began her career in guest-starring roles on television, and starred as Cassandra Kopelson in The CW medical comedy ...

and E.J. Bonilla. The film premiered at the 2012

Los Angeles Film Festival The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episod ...

where its ensemble cast won the top acting award. E.J. Bonilla received an

Imagen Award The Imagen Awards are administered by the Imagen Foundation, an organization dedicated to "encouraging and recognizing the positive portrayals of Latinos in the entertainment industry." To be considered for an Imagen Award, a media piece or person ...

nomination for his performance and Wendell Pierce received an

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glas ...

nomination for his performance.

Cast

as Joe *

as June *

as Abigayle * E.J. Bonilla as Dexter *

Yolonda Ross Yolonda Ross is an American actress, writer and director. Life and career Ross was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. She began her acting career in New York, appearing in the episodes of television series ''New York Undercover'' and ''Third Wa ...

as Abigayle's Mother * Liam Benzvi as Todd * Kathryn Meisle as June's Mom

Production

''Four'' took over five years to make and the film started several times before it was actually made. Sanchez met Christopher Shinn in 2003 while he was working for an online magazine and was assigned to interview Shinn. Sanchez had read all of Shinn's plays as research for the interview, which is how he first came to read Shinn's play, ''Four''. Sanchez wanted to option ''Four'' right away, but another filmmaker had already optioned it. A year later, the other filmmaker did not renew the option on the play, so Sanchez stepped in. To raise money for the film, Sanchez and his producer, Christine Giorgio, were among some of the first artists to use the crowdfunding website,

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

in December 2009. They successfully raised nearly $20,000 for their initial campaign. Film director, and playwright,

Neil LaBute Neil N. LaBute (born March 19, 1963) is an American playwright, film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is best-known for a play that he wrote and later adapted for film, ''In the Company of Men'' (1997), which won awards from the Sundance Fi ...

, executive produced the film along with renowned photographer, Allen Frame.

Themes

The film is a requiem for loneliness, conformity and desire quietly hidden in the everyday norms of suburban American life and touches on several cultural boundaries, including sexuality, class and race. Three of the film's four main characters are people of color. About ''Four'' Sanchez said:

Release

The film was released on September 13, 2013.

Reception

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 0980999, Four (2012) 2012 films 2012 drama films American drama films American independent films American films based on plays Films set in the United States Kickstarter-funded films 2012 independent films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films