Netflix’s new romantic comedy, The Syndicate, stars Halle Berry and Mark Wahlberg. The story revolves around the romance of two kids who met in school and encounter each other years later: he, a construction worker, and she, a secret agent, find themselves surprisingly caught up in a big adventure.
However, throughout the film’s 109 minutes, the couple never kisses, a decision that, according to director Julian Farino, was “long discussed”, but ultimately made to leave fans wanting more.
“We take the relationship to a certain point, and then I think you have to leave a lot of space to explore,” Farino told Variety at the film’s premiere in Los Angeles on Monday night. “Netflix, when we started, told us: ‘You have to think of this as a potential idea for three movies.’ So if the audience leaves wanting to see a kiss, we probably did it right, or at least that’s my opinion”.
Berry and Wahlberg echoed Farino’s logic about skipping the kiss. “Once they kiss, it’s over. We hope that if we make a second installment, the chase continues,” Berry explains. “You want to see the journey, to see how these two high school sweethearts reunite,” she added. “If we can move forward and do something more, I imagine there will be much more than a kiss. But, you know, we’ll have to wait and see what happens,” the actor added.
Farino joined Berry, Wahlberg, and the rest of the cast of The Syndicate on the red carpet of the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood to talk about how they brought the Netflix action film to life. The film tells the story of a division of the intelligence services known as The Syndicate, which specializes in turning workers into deadly spies. After a mission abroad is compromised, Roxanne (Berry) returns to her hometown of New Jersey to recruit her high school boyfriend Mike (Wahlberg), whose anonymity and construction experience make him the perfect addition to the team.
Along with romance, the film offers plenty of action. The shooting schedule was split between New Jersey, New York, London, and Slovenia, which offered a wide production scope that is increasingly rare in a more cautious industry. This amount of locations made Berry very happy.
“We could be in a studio, inventing everything and pretending we’re in Italy, London, or Croatia. But fortunately, we were able to go and see all those places, which I think contributes to the film’s authenticity,” the actress said. “As actors, it helps us get into the character’s head, and besides, we had fun in our free time,” she added.
Beyond the excitement of the premiere of The Syndicate, Berry is in the midst of a legal battle over custody of one of her children. This concerns Maceo, her 10-year-old son from her relationship with Olivier Martinez. The actress has sought sole custody of the minor, claiming that his father “refuses to maintain a co-parenting relationship and communicate with the child’s interests at heart”.
In the documents, Berry claims that she has made great efforts to address her son’s “educational challenges” and additional behavioral concerns, as she “struggled for tutoring, educational assessment, and finding an environment suitable to Maceo’s needs.” The filing also alleges that Martinez has been “a staunch opponent to the situation, with unyielding temperament and not consenting for years.”
Specifically, Berry states that Maceo has “acted out” with her after “longer periods of custody” with his father and that her son “repeated discussions” that the former couple had in private. She alleges that Martinez claimed the child is “old enough to make his own decisions.”
One of Martinez’s attorneys reached out to People magazine to assert that his client “will respond to these accusations” in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Berry’s attorneys chose not to comment.
LA NACION