The Shakedown is a 2024 South African English-language crime comedy that follows a down-on-his-luck insurance broker meddling with local gangsters, a blackmailing mistress, a dodgy brother, and a lot more. This interview finds writer-director Ari Kruger elaborating on the situational Coens-inspired humor of his film, his jump from TV sitcoms to a feature-length production, and even the representation of male sex dolls in cinema.
Listen to the interview and read the transcript below — edited and condensed for clarity:
Hi, I'm Shaurya Thapa of Borrowing Tape, and today I'm joined with Ari Kruger, who is the co-writer and director of the 2024 crime comedy The Shakedown. Welcome, Ari. Before we start talking about the serious aspects, the technical aspects of the film, I just want to talk to you about the wild thing in your film, which was the celebrity male sex dolls. Without being discreet at all — what was the idea behind the celebrity sex dolls? Because we have one sex doll who looks like Jon Bon Jovi, and another one who looks like Antonio Banderas. That caught me off guard. I have two questions, actually, where did you get those dolls from? And, what was the idea behind that, including that as a gimmick?
I just felt that male sex dolls haven't been represented properly in the culture. No, I'm kidding. I actually was inspired by this Vice documentary that I saw about a subculture of sex dolls in America, and specifically male sex dolls. And I just thought it was so weird and so funny. And when writing the film, and knowing that Justin was going to go off and have this affair, and I thought his wife should also have an affair in a different kind of way. That's kind of outrageous and surprising. And, I explored this idea, and the more I thought about it, and started writing it, it just felt like, why not, you know? And then, we've got guys and kids, and they're prosthetic guys who make special effects for films. And then they made the sex doll for us out of 100% silicone, medical silicone grade. So it was very high-end dolls that were extremely heavy to lug around sets. The ones in America are light and they're more malleable. These ones were quite, quite heavy and cumbersome, which added to the comedy.
So my apologies for starting the conversation with that. But yeah, I was intrigued.
You've clearly had significant experience in the TV comedy space. You have worked on several sitcoms and the whole Tali franchisee. And you've also directed short films. But how has the transition been for you from TV and short films to your full-length feature?
I would say that having done three seasons of television where I was the showrunner and pretty much directed all of them was the best possible training for doing a feature. It was by far the most seamless project experience I've had and the most supported projects, especially with Amazon coming on to commission the film. And I think I felt more ready than ever to dive into the feature film world and it has been something I've been wanting to make for a long time, but the experience of TV certainly prepared me in the best possible way. I think with TV, you can leave certain characters / certain arcs open-ended, but with film, everything has to tie up neatly, and I guess that would have been the challenge just trying to find a really satisfying ending to the chaos and comedy of errors that takes place in the narrative of the film.
Were there any, you said this film was an idea of yours for some time, but while writing the screenplay, were there any specific dark comedies or any film from any other genre that inspired The Shakedown?
Lots, I would say In Bruges was a big influence. The TV show Barry, a lot of the Coen Brothers movies, Burn After Reading, Fargo, Guy Ritchie, Uncut Gems in more recent films. There's quite a vast amount of films and TV shows that have a similar kind of sense of humor, [a] dark sense of humor, also Australian films as well, Blue Tongue Guys, Blue Tongue Films, Nash Edgerton's work, great dark comedy there. So I've just been inspired by that and loved that kind of genre for years and years and felt it was time to establish or make a film that has a similar kind of tone.
Yeah, it's perfect because when I was watching your film, when Justin's brother, that character and the hitmen and all who are involved, that did remind me a bit of Barry. I can see Coen Brothers in every crime comedy that I watch, but there's a hint of Barry also there.
Awesome.
But how long did the principal photography take for this film? And where did you film The Shakedown? Was it entirely in South Africa?
Yeah, we shot the whole film in Cape Town in South Africa. It was a six-week shoot, [a] five-day week. So it was 35 days. Yeah, and quite a seamless kind of quick in-and-out shoot. We had to dodge a lot of rain and storms. Cape Town, in the winter is notorious for its storm. So the biggest challenge was actually shooting around the heavy rains.
Your lead character, Justin Diamond. He is depicted as this successful entrepreneurial insurance broker who has a dodgy past and a secret life source. But were there any real-life inspirations behind this protagonist?
I guess to some degree, some people that I know and people that I've grown up with in my life, people that fly high and are considered golden boys. I would have derived influence from those kinds of guys. And I guess the specifics of that kind of medical aid broker specifically around the points, that is quite a specific job title that exists in South Africa. And these are guys that try motivate you and encourage you to join the program and maximize your points, cash out format. I don't know if this kind of thing exists in America in this capacity, but certainly, I've had quite a few experiences with that kind of guys who actually try to cancel my policy, and they swoop in and give me the crib notes on actually how easy it is to just maximize the points and get free flights and book hotels and all that shit. So yeah, I thought there was a lot of comedy in that kind of character. I wanted to explore that character on the screen.
Initially, when the film started, I could see a hint of Jordan Belfort, but that's just an overstatement, I guess.
You mentioned a lot of influences, American films, British films, and Australian films, but what, according to you, sets The Shakedown's comedy or certain aspects of The Shakedown that set it apart as a South African crime comedy?
I would say the characters and the nuances of the characters, South Africans speak in a certain way. We've got our own slang, which is unique to South Africa. Certain words and idioms and ways that we speak are quite unique, and I encouraged all of the cast to speak in that way. I really wanted to bring that South African flavor across. If there's something that sets it apart, it would be the nuance and the flavor of the characters and how they speak and then potentially also just the geography of showcasing, like where we are in this Cape Town and how that looks and how that feels as well. The actual humor and the situational humor, I don't think is particularly South African. I feel like that's quite global and universal, yeah.
Now you've done a full-length feature, it's going to be out in Prime, so it's going to be global. Well, what are your plans after that? Do you plan to stick to the comedy genre, or do you plan to diversify it?
Well, I do love working within this crime comedy genre, and I'm writing a film at the moment which is in the same genre, so I would very much like to keep working within the space, but I'm — of course — also open to potentially. Comedy is just such an instinctive thing for me, and I know always how to make scenes funny and how to make characters funny, but I do feel that there's a film in me that is potentially a bit more dramatic and serious. And so maybe in a few films time, I'll reach that point where I'm no longer always taking the piss, and actually just leaning into the drama; not always trying to crack [a joke] it every few seconds. But, yeah, I do feel comedy is within my wheelhouse, and I do love figuring out ways to realize the comedy within the scenes and within the film.
All right, perfect. Thank you for your time, Ari. It was lovely talking to you, and I enjoyed the movie as well. As I said, the Antonio Banderas sex doll gave me a jump scare, but other than that, I enjoyed it, and thank you for your time, Ari.
Thank you for your time.
Watch The Shakedown