{"id":41443,"date":"2026-04-11T00:04:39","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T07:04:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/behindthelensonline.net\/site\/?p=41443"},"modified":"2026-04-11T00:04:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T07:04:39","slug":"dillon-bentlage-interview-watching-mr-pearson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/behindthelensonline.net\/site\/interviews\/interview-exclusives\/dillon-bentlage-interview-watching-mr-pearson\/","title":{"rendered":"DILLON BENTLAGE on the Heart, Craft, and Quiet Grace of WATCHING MR. PEARSON – Exclusive Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

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(l. to r.) Dillon Bentlage and Simon Kincade. Photo Courtesy of Franklin Lockwood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Co-Writer\/Director DILLON BENTLAGE discusses memory, caregiving, collaboration, and the visual and emotional architecture of his deeply humane first feature, WATCHING MR. PEARSON.<\/p>\n

For a first feature, WATCHING MR. PEARSON arrives with remarkable assurance. Written by Dillon Bentlage and Simon Kincade and directed by Bentlage, the film centers on Robert Pearson, a once-famous actor living with dementia, as two caregivers discover that imagination, performance, and friendship may be the only ways to help him reconnect with the world around him.<\/p>\n

What makes the film so affecting is that Bentlage never frames Robert as someone who is already gone. Even as memory slips and time fractures, Robert remains present, emotional, reachable. Bentlage said that was always central to the story\u2019s purpose, even as he is careful to distinguish the film from an educational or issue-driven piece. \u201cThis is really an artistic expression from our own experiences,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not an educational piece. But I do hope people can come away seeing this with a glimpse of hope and sympathy for, you know, recognizing some things that they\u2019ve gone through, dementia in their family, personally.\u201d<\/p>\n

That sense of hope is what gives Watching Mr. Pearson its emotional identity. The film is bittersweet, certainly, but it is never punishing. Bentlage and Kincade are interested not just in loss, but in the ways connection can still survive within loss.<\/p>\n

Bentlage was quick to point out that the film\u2019s beauty is not his alone. Asked about the visual softness and emotional intimacy of the piece, he immediately shifted the spotlight to cinematographer Peter Nogueira. \u201cPete is just a wizard with the camera,\u201d Bentlage said. \u201cTrue collaborator, and I\u2019m so, so lucky to have worked with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

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That instinct to credit others runs through nearly every part of Bentlage\u2019s conversation about the film. He does not talk like a filmmaker interested in claiming singular authorship. Instead, he talks like someone who genuinely loves the communal act of making movies. \u201cMy true strategy as a director is just find the most talented, incredible people I know and put them in a room together and talk to them about the film,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd just allow them the creative space to put their imprint on there.\u201d<\/p>\n

He laughed a little at the idea of taking too much personal credit, insisting that what he loves most is \u201ctaking a bunch of really creative people and bringing them together to make something special.\u201d That philosophy is visible all over WATCHING MR. PEARSON, from the performances to the production design to the score.<\/p>\n

Bentlage\u2019s own connection to the subject matter helped shape the film\u2019s emotional foundation. Both he and co-writer\/producer Simon Kincade drew from personal family experiences with dementia and Alzheimer\u2019s, but Bentlage also knew he wanted to tell the story in a way that felt manageable as an independent production. \u201cYou\u2019re trying to find ones that you feel are manageable to do at the budget ranges and time frames that we can do them,\u201d he said. \u201cUltimately, this felt manageable.\u201d He laughed at that understatement, acknowledging that even a film built around \u201cjust three characters, one house\u201d quickly became far more expansive in practice than expected.<\/p>\n

Still, the emotional reach of the material made it feel worth pursuing. Bentlage said the story\u2019s power lay in how widely relatable it could be: \u201cA lot of people from different generations can relate to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the film\u2019s most inspired choices is making Robert a once-famous actor. That narrative decision opens up a rich backstory, allowing Robert\u2019s past and present to overlap through fragments of fictional old movies, scripts, performances, and memories. Bentlage loved the possibilities that gave the film. \u201cWe wanted to make him feel like he was part of cinematic history, even though he wasn\u2019t,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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To build that illusion, Bentlage and Kincade looked to classic screen legends and old studio-era genre pieces. \u201cWe started looking at titles of movies from back then,\u201d he said, \u201cand we were thinking, which ones would we want to write? What genres would we want to write?\u201d The result is a wonderfully textured fictional filmography for Robert, one that includes a western, a noir, and a billiards drama. Bentlage admitted, with more than a hint of enthusiasm, that he and Kincade have even joked about one day turning some of those invented films into real features. \u201cWe really want to do a genre film,\u201d he said. \u201cIt would be really fun to actually adapt one of those.\u201d<\/p>\n

Central to making all of that work is the casting. Hugo Armstrong\u2019s performance as Robert is extraordinary, and Sam Bullington\u2019s work as young Robert is one of the film\u2019s most elegant achievements. Bentlage revealed that Bullington actually came to them through Armstrong himself. \u201cHugo had called us,\u201d Bentlage said, \u201cbecause we were looking for someone to play the younger version of him. And he said, \u2018Hey, I met this guy at a read-through once… I\u2019m not sure if he can act, but maybe you want to call him.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The result was uncanny. Bentlage said the hope was that audiences might almost think they had \u201chired Hugo\u2019s son\u201d because Bullington and Armstrong share the same height, similar coloring, and remarkably compatible energy. More importantly, they feel like the same person. Bentlage admitted that was one of his biggest concerns in the script stage because the film never stops to explain Robert\u2019s backstory in heavy exposition. \u201cI didn\u2019t want any exposition for it,\u201d he said. \u201cI think Sam did such a good job studying from Hugo, and Hugo doing that with Sam too, to find this commonality between them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Armstrong, of course, was not the most obvious age fit on paper. Bentlage initially worried that the actor was too young for the role, which briefly pushed the filmmakers toward older performers. But Armstrong kept pulling him back. \u201cI just couldn\u2019t get him out of my head,\u201d Bentlage said. \u201cI was so convinced he could play above his age.\u201d Once Armstrong taped for the role, the producers agreed: \u201cThat\u2019s the guy right there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rest came down to performance, makeup, and a beard Bentlage now calls essential. \u201cIt was his idea to keep the beard,\u201d Bentlage said. \u201cI asked him, \u2018Will you keep the beard?\u2019 and he said, \u2018I think it\u2019s essential.\u2019\u201d On set, the transformation was so convincing that people instinctively reacted to Armstrong as if he actually were an elderly man in need of help. Bentlage laughed, remembering how crew members would see him come down the stairs in full makeup and think, \u201cOh my God, here comes this feeble old man. I need to help him to where his mark is.\u201d Then the makeup would come off, and suddenly Armstrong was \u201clike a skateboarder and a really chill kind of surfer California guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Just as carefully considered as the casting is the film\u2019s visual language. WATCHING MR. PEARSON is luminous. It does not sink into darkness simply because its subject matter is painful. Bentlage said that choice was both practical and thematic. The house location itself had a great deal of natural light, but he and Nogueira were also intentionally drawn to films that allowed difficult emotions to live in brightness. \u201cWe were interested in movies that didn\u2019t shy away from brightness with uncomfortable subjects,\u201d Bentlage said.<\/p>\n

That became a guiding principle. \u201cWe really wanted to make a film that was overall hopeful,\u201d he said. \u201cObviously, it\u2019s got drama. Obviously, the subject matter is still quite heavy. But I think what we want people to take away from it is the sense of the importance of care, the importance of friendship, and ultimately hope and joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

That care extends to the emotional worlds of Caroline and Miguel. Bentlage gives both characters distinct interior lives and differing relationships to Robert. Caroline meets him with warmth, imagination, and emotional openness; Miguel begins from a more practical and guarded place. Bentlage wanted the tension between them to exist without being overstated. \u201cI didn\u2019t want it to be preachy,\u201d he said. \u201cI just wanted it to make the characters feel more real.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their differences are partly personal and partly shaped by their experiences as immigrants or children of immigrants. Bentlage, whose father is from Holland, was interested in those contrasting perspectives. Caroline still believes fiercely in possibility. Miguel has been worn down by responsibility. Bentlage described Miguel as someone with \u201cthis deep, deep-seated desire to be a screenwriter,\u201d but who no longer believes he can afford to chase that dream. Caroline, meanwhile, still believes \u201cyou can choose what you want in life.\u201d Those opposing views create friction, but also depth.<\/p>\n

Bentlage is especially insightful when talking about why Caroline\u2019s emotional boundaries with Robert become so porous. Because she is new to the United States and largely alone, work begins to fill the space that friendship and family might otherwise occupy. \u201cShe is alone here,\u201d he said. \u201cSo for her, she\u2019s looking at Miguel as a friend, not a colleague, and she\u2019s even at some point looking at Robert as a friend instead of a colleague.\u201d<\/p>\n

That emotional blurring is one of the reasons the film works so well. Robert is not merely being managed. He is being seen.<\/p>\n

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Bentlage\u2019s approach with his collaborators follows a similar philosophy. Rather than dictating result-based instructions, he prefers to talk through intention and let actors and department heads find their way there. \u201cI never want to tell someone, \u2018Be more sad, be more angry,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m much more interested in what is the scene trying to accomplish.\u201d He said the same approach shaped his work with Nogueira. Bentlage knew what kind of shots moved him as a viewer, but he trusted his cinematographer to understand which lenses, angles, and framing choices would best convey emotion. \u201cI think you\u2019re better off acknowledging your pitfalls as a director,\u201d he said, \u201cand finding someone who\u2019s better at that than you, than trying to pretend.\u201d<\/p>\n

That openness also allowed the film to evolve during production. Some visual ideas changed right before filming, including one major moment that shifted from a dock to the ocean itself. \u201cTwo days earlier, we were like, why don\u2019t we just put him in the ocean?\u201d Bentlage recalled. \u201cLet\u2019s get a fish tank. We\u2019ll put the camera in the fish tank and risk our insurance and get that cool underwater shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The editing process brought its own challenges. Bentlage praised editor Jurriaan Van Nimwegen in glowing terms, calling him \u201cone of my favorite human beings\u201d and crediting him with radically improving the film. The first cut ran around an hour and forty-five minutes, but the goal was always to shape something leaner without making it feel abrupt or emotionally fragmented. \u201cThe challenge we had was really trying to cut it down to that timeframe, not make it feel rushed, but also on the other side, not making it feel like it was just a string of scenes that didn\u2019t have a continuing arc.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bentlage said Van Nimwegen found solutions that surprised even him. One sequence involving billiards was restructured so significantly that Bentlage warned Kincade in advance that it no longer resembled what had been written, but insisted it was better. Another breakthrough came in the shaving scene, when Caroline tries to shave Robert and he becomes confused by the repetition of the moment. Bentlage said that eerie loop was not on the page at all. \u201cJurriaan took that scene where he\u2019s getting shaved and made it that strange loop,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s completely Jurriaan… somehow finding it in the performances.\u201d<\/p>\n

That editorial sensitivity is part of what keeps the film from ever feeling exploitative. It allows viewers to sit with Robert instead of simply observing his decline from a safe distance. Bentlage summed up his artistic goal with a piece of advice that has stayed with him: \u201cDon\u2019t try to write the next great story. Write the next great character.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Music was equally important in shaping the film\u2019s emotional tone. Bentlage spoke with deep affection about composers Jasper Van Dijik and Kyle Franklin, who have collaborated with him for roughly a decade. He also laughed that they may never forgive him for this one. \u201cThey both told me this was the hardest film they\u2019ve ever done,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Initially, the idea was to pursue a sweeping, old-Hollywood sound. But Bentlage and his producing partner Brian eventually realized that kind of grandeur would overpower the film they had actually made. \u201cWe felt, all right, we made a good movie, but we can\u2019t possibly compete with those large-budget productions,\u201d he said. \u201cThe score doesn\u2019t feel like it\u2019s matching what you\u2019re seeing. It feels too grand for the imagery that we\u2019ve created.\u201d<\/p>\n

So the score evolved into something lighter, more character-driven, more emotionally porous. Bentlage said they listened to many soundtracks from the 1990s, especially films with a Randy Newman-like touch, looking for a sound that could be \u201ca little bit more dramatic in certain moments\u201d but still \u201ccomplement that lighting and just be a little bit airier around this kind of sensitive subject.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was especially taken with the trumpet motif that emerged for Robert. \u201cThe first time I heard that, I thought, ‘ This is fantastic. Let\u2019s build on that concept’.\u201d Elsewhere, the score gets to play with genre, particularly in moments where Robert mentally drifts into other modes of storytelling. Bentlage loved the way the composers found room for Western echoes, noir shading, and even live jazz.<\/p>\n

One of his favorite examples comes in the scene where Robert calls for an escort. Bentlage described how the composers decided to bring in a jazz band and \u201clive score\u201d the sequence, allowing the music to begin almost as if it were diegetic before tilting into something stranger and more expressive. \u201cI thought that\u2019s amazing,\u201d Bentlage said. \u201cThat\u2019s so funny. I like that. It\u2019s different. It\u2019s unique.\u201d<\/p>\n

That word, funny, matters. Bentlage was candid about wanting the film to leave room for humor alongside heartbreak. \u201cPeople also tend to not want to focus on the funny as part of the experience,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I think that\u2019s kind of a shame, because it can be beautiful, it can be heartbreaking, it can be funny, and you\u2019re allowed to say that it\u2019s funny.\u201d<\/p>\n

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That tonal flexibility is one of the film\u2019s quiet strengths. Bentlage never makes fun of Robert, but he does allow the absurdity and unpredictability of life to remain intact. \u201cWe\u2019re not making fun of Robert in that scene,\u201d he said of the escort sequence. \u201cBut the whole thing is just believable and crazy and can happen, and that\u2019s okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ending, not surprisingly, remains especially meaningful to him. Bentlage credited Kincade with the emotional shape of the closing beats, particularly Miguel\u2019s final gesture, which points to a future he has nearly convinced himself not to want. \u201cIt feels like Simon just… getting the script, getting the piece of mail he wanted, you know, knowing Miguel is chasing his dreams just makes me feel really happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

But one of the ending\u2019s most powerful lines came from Armstrong himself. When Robert quietly says, \u201cHe saved me,\u201d Bentlage noted, \u201cthat was Hugo\u2019s added line right there.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is the perfect grace note for a film built around mutual rescue, memory, and care. No one in WATCHING MR. PEARSON remains untouched by the others. Caregiving changes the caregivers. Friendship changes the lonely. Performance becomes a form of presence. Imagination becomes a bridge.<\/p>\n

Looking back, Bentlage said the biggest lesson he learned from making the film was to trust even more. \u201cFilmmaking is the most collaborative art form I can think of,\u201d he said. \u201cIt requires extreme amounts of trust and respect and admiration for the people you\u2019re working with.\u201d If he takes one thing forward into future projects, it is that: \u201cBring more people in that I admire and respect, and give them absolutely the space to express themselves as much as I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

That collaborative spirit is deeply embedded in WATCHING MR. PEARSON.\u00a0 It is there in the performances, in the score, in the softness of the light, in the rhythm of the editing, and in the film\u2019s refusal to reduce dementia to a single emotional note. Bentlage has made a debut feature with genuine compassion and a quietly confident sense of craft. More importantly, he has made a film that understands something essential: even when memory falters, feeling does not disappear.<\/p>\n

by debbie elias, exclusive interview 04\/09\/2026<\/p>\n

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WATCHING MR. PEARSON is starting its theatrical rollout across the country on April 9, 2026.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n