SAN JOSE, Calif. — Luxury sex toy brand, LELO, on Tuesday released a new trailer and interactive experience for "Beyond the Wave" starring Casper Van Dien and slated for release this summer.
"Beyond the Wave" is billed as "the world's first ever mainstream movie produced by a sex toy company."
With all the attention focused on BDSM ahead of the Valentine's Day release of "Fifty Shades of Grey," LELO's intervention aims to bring couples closer together, both physically and emotionally, by showing the value of perspective in relationships.
"Beyond the Wave," starring Van Dien (Starship Troopers, Sleepy Hollow), Emilie Ohana (Paris, Je t’aime) and newcomer Zhu Wei Ling, follows one man's experience in a post-apocalyptic world where men and women choose to live apart. A chance meeting with the young Noria (Ling) sparks an enlightening journey for Jacques (Van Dien), one that shows him the importance of understanding another's perspective. "On the surface it's a love story, but deeper than that, it's a reminder on how to enrich relationships in an increasingly individualistic and divided world," according to LELO.
Van Dien remarked: “When I read the script, the project spoke to me on a personal level. I think many people in 2015 can feel lonely and disconnected even when someone is right beside them. 'Beyond the Wave' shows the importance of not only relying on yourself, of not just communicating or spending time with someone, but genuinely trying to understand your partner's perspective. So many arguments could be avoided if we just paused for a moment and put ourselves in our partner's shoes.”
Celebrating the launch, BeyondTheWaveMovie.com also hosts an extended interactive trailer – "the first-ever movie trailer that can only be watched with a partner," the company said. Called the PlayTogether experience, couples need to physically put their smartphones side by side to lead the "Beyond the Wave" stars on an interactive journey, where each partner's choices determine the story they share.
Steve Thomson, LELO's head of marketing, explained, “Our goal with 'Beyond the Wave' is to encourage couples to connect with the story, and through the act of watching the movie itself. We hope the twisting plot will inspire interpretations, and show the richness of different perspectives. That's also the thinking behind PlayTogether: by bringing couples closer, encouraging them not merely to sit in the same room but engage with each other's point-of-view, the trailer becomes a catalyst for a rich, shared experience.”
Despite not featuring any LELO products, the movie's name was inspired by the brand's Ina Wave device, launched in late 2014. Thomson remarked, "The backstory is that many testers commented that the Ina Wave was 'better than sex?' or 'there was no need for relationships anymore.' That really got everyone at LELO thinking hard about our brand's responsibility.
“What we want from this movie is to go beyond what people expect from a sex toy company and help them get closer to their partner. Of course at this time LELO sales are booming with the 'Fifty Shades effect,' but we want to show that physical connections will be even more satisfying if you also invest time in understanding your partner's perspective.”
To view the trailer and interactive experience, plus access exclusive interviews with the cast and crew, visit BeyondTheWaveMovie.com.
