DADDIO Trailer 2 (2024) Dakota Johnson, Sean Penn

DADDIO Trailer 2 (2024) Dakota Johnson, Sean Penn

DADDIO Trailer 2 (2024) Dakota Johnson, Sean Penn
© 2024 - Sony Pictures Classics

"I just gotta tell ya… you're better off walking away." Sony Pictures Classics has revealed the main official trailer for the indie film titled Daddio, marking the feature debut of the newcomer filmmaker Christy Hall. This initially premiered at both the 2023 Telluride & Toronto Film Festivals last fall. It's currently set for a release in select theaters starting in late June this summer. The New York City drama is set entirely in a taxi cab departing from JFK airport. A young woman jumps into the backseat of a yellow taxi, the cabbie throws the vehicle into drive as the two head out into the night toward Manhattan, striking up the most unexpected conversation resulting in a single, epic, remarkable journey. Dakota Johnson stars as Girlie, and Sean Penn co-stars as the driver Clark, described as a "curbside philosopher." I'm actually very curious to watch this, to see where their conversation goes and what gets revealed between the two of them. It's worth a look.

Here's the full official trailer (+ poster) for Christy Hall's Daddio, direct from SPC's YouTube:

Daddio Teaser Trailer

You can rewatch the teaser trailer for Christy Hall's Daddio right here, for the first look again.

Via TIFF: "Dakota Johnson plays a woman who steps into a New York cab at the airport, driven by a man played by Sean Penn. She's clearly preoccupied and just wants to get home. He's a curbside philosopher. Immediately, he engages her in conversation which starts in small talk then gets bigger, deeper, and riskier as he steers her to her destination." Daddio is both written and directed by indie filmmaker Christy Hall, making her feature directorial debut after developing / producing the "I Am Not Okay with This" TV series previously. It's produced by Ro Donnelly, Terry Dougas, Christy Hall, Dakota Johnson, Paris Kassidokostas-Latsis, Emma Tillinger Koskoff. This initially premiered at the Telluride & Toronto Film Festivals last fall. Sony Classics will release Hall's Daddio in select US theaters starting June 28th, 2024. Anyone into this?

Daddio stars Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn and is set in a New York City cab. Watch the trailer below.
The film uses cutting-edge Volume technology from The Mandalorian.
Johnson and Penn serve as producers on the film, putting their faith in director Christy Hall.
Sony Pictures Classics has just dropped the trailer for Daddio, the latest film featuring Dakota Johnson and hopefully, for the star, this one will be better received than her current cinematic outing, Madame Web. The film, which made its bow at last year's Toronto International Film Festival, tells the story of a life-altering taxi ride from New York's John F. Kennedy Airport into the heart of Manhattan. Johnson is the passenger, while Sean Penn drives the cab in the feature-length directorial debut of writer and filmmaker Christy Hall.

Notably, the movie is also the first grounded drama to make use of The Mandalorian's "Volume" technology — by employing a sound stage with drive footage projected onto the screen. The cab was surrounded by high-resolution LED panels, using anamorphic lenses that were de-tuned for a vintage look, which added an air of authenticity to the film's final product.

The film is a two-hander, with Johnson and Penn the only cast members involved, giving the film an air of theatricality, and there's clearly a huge level of nuanced acting going on within that tight space of an iconic yellow cab. Indeed, Penn was quoted as saying — via Hall, last year — that the film made him want to tread the boards and take to the stage once again.“They really delivered the play because they’re both theater people,” Hall explained, “Sean’s been on Broadway; he worked with Sam Shepherd for many years, originating a lot of his work in San Francisco. Dakota did theater before she became the glorious movie star that she is. So we just kind of treated it like a play.”

Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn Serve as Producers on 'Daddio'
daddio-dakota-johnson-featuredImage via TIFF
Hall told Collider’s Perri Nemiroff last year that both Penn and Johnson were pivotal allies to have in her corner, not just as stars, but also as producers on the project, putting their faith in her as the correct person to lead the film despite her cinematic inexperience.

“This being my first feature, I’ve raised my hand for a few of my scripts and I, a lot of times, was told no. I really needed people to surround me, and Sean and Dakota, they put their faith in me, they put their faith in this script, and they said, ‘No, Christy is the one to direct this, and we’re going to help her push this boulder up the mountain.’”

Daddio will be released in theaters sometime this summer. Watch the new trailer below.

"Who else you gonna talk to about this, not like you're ever gonna see me again…" Sony Pictures Classics has debuted a first look teaser trailer for an indie film titled Daddio, marking the feature directorial debut of filmmaker Christy Hall. This initially premiered at both the 2023 Telluride & Toronto Film Festivals last fall, but it never showed up at any other festivals after those two. The New York City drama is set entirely in a taxi cab departing from JFK airport. A young woman jumps into the backseat of a yellow taxi, the cabbie throws the vehicle into drive as the two head out into the night toward Manhattan, striking up the most unexpected conversation resulting in a single, epic, remarkable journey. Dakota Johnson stars as Girlie, and Sean Penn co-stars as the driver Clark, described as a "curbside philosopher." This is a surprisingly good teaser because it's precisely just the right amount of footage needed to make you want to see this film.

Here's the first look teaser trailer for Christy Hall's Daddio, direct from SPC's YouTube:

Daddio Teaser Trailer

Via TIFF: "Dakota Johnson plays a woman who steps into a New York cab at the airport, driven by a man played by Sean Penn. She's clearly preoccupied and just wants to get home. He's a curbside philosopher. Immediately, he engages her in conversation which starts in small talk then gets bigger, deeper, and riskier as he steers her to her destination." Daddio is both written and directed by indie filmmaker Christy Hall, making her feature directorial debut after developing / producing the "I Am Not Okay with This" TV series previously. It's produced by Ro Donnelly, Terry Dougas, Christy Hall, Dakota Johnson, Paris Kassidokostas-Latsis, Emma Tillinger Koskoff. This initially premiered at the Telluride & Toronto Film Festivals last fall. Sony Classics will release Hall's Daddio in select US theaters starting in summer 2024. Anyone into this?
Premiering at the Telluride Film Festival last year, “Daddio” seemingly came out of nowhere with a starry cast and a minimalist logline. Starring Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn, the film is essentially just a two-hander set in a taxi cab, where a driver (Penn) and the rider (Johnson) basically strike up a long and provocative conversation about life, politics, and their outlooks on the world.

Directed by Christy Hall, who co-created the series “I Am Not Okay With This” and makes her directorial debut with “Daddio,” the film is a very stripped-down, minimalist affair that relies on the charm and talents of its two lead actors.

READ MORE: ‘Daddio’ Review: Dakota Johnson & Sean Penn Shine in Christy Hall’s Schematic But Affecting Drama [TIFF]

Our review from TIFF praised the two actors, the design of the film, the writing, and its ability to sustain itself despite the super spare concept.

“Hall’s writing is so insightful,” our reviewer wrote. “There’s a well-observed authenticity to these characters, and she gets all the logistical and geographic details right.. Johnson and Penn’s connection is genuine, and there’s an awful lot to like here.”

Here’s the official synopsis:

New York City. JFK airport. A young woman jumps into the backseat of a yellow taxi, the cabbie throws the vehicle into drive as the two head out into the night toward Manhattan, striking up the most unexpected conversation resulting in a single, epic, remarkable journey.

“Daddio” has no release date yet, but Sony Pictures Classics snatched up rights to the picture late last year. The new teaser trailer gives a small taste of what the picture has in store and promises a summer release. Watch the new trailer below.
Choosing projects wisely is important for Dakota Johnson post-Madame Web. Daddio showcases acting skills in limited space for greater engagement.
Daddio's focus on deep dialogue between characters challenges viewers to pay attention and connect without distractions from screens.
Director Christy Hall views Daddio as an exploration of human connection, emphasizing the importance of engaging with the world around us.
After the lackluster reception of Madame Web, one of the best things that lead Dakota Johnson (Fifty Shades of Grey) can do is to select projects that showcase her acting skills. Daddio seems like the perfect movie for that. The story centers mostly around two characters: A driver (Sean Penn) and a woman (Johnson) who have a deep and meaningful conversation during a cab ride in New York.

The setting is perfect for actors to show their range. Having a character inside a limited space and without many props means that the audience’s attention will be focused on their faces most of the time, so a great performance really helps whoever’s watching to engage. This is exactly the kind of setting that earned Jamie Foxx (Collateral) an Oscar nomination, for example. This is also the kind of movie that greatly relies on a screenwriter’s ability to conduct dialogue, because that’s another element that people start paying attention to when there aren’t a lot of other elements to look at.

The trailer for Daddio makes it clear that there will be no shortage of topics for Penn and Johnson’s characters to talk about. From relationships to how fleeting life can be, they’ll touch on everything and share an unlikely bond that is too random to explain and only people who have lived it know how it feels. The trailer also makes it clear that the movie will put some emphasis on how our little screens have been preventing us from having real experiences. In Daddio’s case, its simple structure might be by design, since the point of the movie is to challenge you to pay attention and actually listen to what’s being discussed on screen.

'Daddio' Director Talked All About The Movie With Collider
Daddio is written and directed by Christy Hall, who previously created the Netflix series I Am Not Okay With This. Daddio marks a feature film directing debut for Hall. The director called her movie “a love letter to the power of human connection,” and talked about it with Collider back at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2023. During the interview, she stated:

“The spirit of this film is an exploration of what could happen if we really decided to, yeah, put our phone down and actually engage with the world. ‘Cause if you talk to someone long enough, they will reveal their humanity to you. And I think that that reminds us that we’re all very infinitely connected, and I think that’s kind of the medicine that we need right now.”

Daddio premieres in theaters on June 28. You can watch the trailer above.
Dakota Johnson (“The Lost Daughter”) and Sean Penn (“Mystic River”) are set to star in the upcoming single-setting drama “Daddio,” written and directed by Christy Hall in her feature-length directorial debut. The new cab ride film envisioned initially as a stage play, will hit the big screen on June 28, and Sony Pictures Classics has released a trailer for “Daddio,” giving audiences a better idea of what to expect from the pic that previously debuted at Telluride Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival last year.

The story of “Daddio” is simple but seemingly effective: a woman (Johnson) gets in the back of a cab at JFK airport, and she and the cab driver (Penn) get into a long, thoughtful, philosophical, and challenging conversation as she takes the long ride back home.

READ MORE: ‘Daddio’ Review: Dakota Johnson & Sean Penn Shine in Christy Hall’s Schematic But Affecting Drama [TIFF]

Here is how Sony’s official logline describes the new film:

“Daddio” celebrates the power found in those rare moments of pure human connection, even with an unlikely person. This highly contained yet kinetic character study—encapsulated in one single cab ride—explores the complexities inherent to the secrets we keep, particularly the ones locked away on our phones. It’s about truth and illusion, how we so effortlessly substitute one for the other out of survival. It’s about the hurtful memories of childhood and how past trauma can manifest itself in the most profound ways. It’s about the dance between the pain and poetry that is the human experience.

“Because she is our generation of women who are still approaching these men in a nonjudgmental way because it’s fascinating. We’re not threatened by it,” “Daddio” producer Ro Donnelly recently told IndieWire about why the film, relying on dialogue and the two leads’ charms, works. “And that reveals her power, the fact that she holds her own. She really is reflective of all the women who made this movie; she’s our girl. And we like that she’s so curious and almost tickled by [him], especially when he’s saying crazy shit. She’s like, ‘Oh, really?’ She goes head-to-head with him. And that’s what we love about her is: she’s not afraid. She’s not afraid to really fucking go for it.”

The Playlist reviewed “Daddio” when it screened at the Toronto International Film Festival back in 2023, and you can read our impressions of the pic right here, which referred to some highlights, such as the characters’ connection being “genuine” and hailing the cinematography from Phedon Papamichael.