After captivating audiences at SXSW last year, Cazzie David’s I Love You Forever is set for a limited theater release on Feb. 14—darkly comedic timing befitting a darkly comedic film that plumbs the murky depths of emotionally abusive relationships.
An actor and essayist, David has honed a distinctive voice that blends wit with poignant, often uncomfortable truths. Her 2020 essay collection, No One Asked for This, further cemented her status as a writer with a keen eye for the absurdities and nuances of modern life, relationships, and the messy contradictions of adulthood. Whether dissecting the pitfalls of romance or the chaos of quotidian interactions, David’s work is equal parts biting and reflective, with a refreshingly unflinching slant.
In an exclusive conversation with CULTURED, David reflects on the personal and creative forces behind I Love You Forever. Below, she opens up about the challenges of creating multidimensional characters, navigating the fine line between humor and heartbreak, and why this film, in all its complexity, is her most intimate and daring project to date.
CULTURED: How did we get this movie?
Cazzie David: I experienced something in this vein, and there wasn’t a lot to turn to in the aftermath. I wanted to make something that felt like a grounded, realistic portrayal of the feelings that swirl around emotional abuse. I talked to many people, and as I learned more, it became clear that it’s a kind of epidemic. I thought it was so crazy that there weren’t any movies that could help people to either feel seen or prevent themselves from getting into something like this.
At the same time, my writing partner and I wanted to write something that felt like a rom-com for our generation. It came together perfectly, because the textbook emotionally abusive relationship starts out feeling like a fairy tale or a once-in-a-lifetime love story.
CULTURED: Was there catharsis for you in making this film?
David: I think that will come when and if people can relate to this movie. I’m kind of waiting for that moment. It’s strange to have an experience and then direct that same experience on a set, but in the end, the film was an amalgamation of so many stories. We wanted there to be a glimpse of every manipulation tactic a person could have experienced in an emotionally abusive relationship—even a friendship—so that there’s something that almost anyone could relate to.
CULTURED: So many of the relationships in the film are heavily mediated by technology. That’s always something I’m wary of—it’s challenging to pull off a hyper-contemporary story in that way.
David: Hyper-contemporary movies, they’re such a bummer. Sometimes I’ll see a character in a show take a photo and be like, “La di da—posted!” No one has ever done that—come on! You take 300 photos, you craft a caption, and hours later you post it and delete it. I find those nuances to be really funny and touching, and they’re rarely portrayed accurately. But in the film, the phone has a major role—it becomes a leash linking Mackenzie [the protagonist] to her boyfriend.
CULTURED: You seem interested in the idea of this film educating people. Many directors shy away from that.
David: I don’t want it just to feel informative—because that’s not a movie, it’s a PSA. But since I feel confident in the story—it has a lot of humor in it and it’s relatable to my generation—I’m happy if it also manages to teach you something. I think it has that educational potential because this is a subject that we have really inaccurate conversations about. If I had seen something like this when I was in high school, it could have helped.
