Composer René G. Boscio knew there were high expectations on composing music for a story the world knew for the past four hundred years.

In R#J, the romantic film is a modernized re-telling of the classic William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. In this version, it utilizes cell phone apps, texts, photos, and Facetime to tell the romantic tragedy.

The film stars Camaron Engels, Francesca Noel, David Zayas, Diego Tinoco, Siddiq Saunderson, and Russell Hornsby. Carey Williams directed the movie from a screenplay written by Williams, Rickie Castaneda, and Alex Sobolev.

Here’s the synopsis:

In fair Verona, a war as old as time is brewing between rival houses—but it’s being captured in a new way. Montague and Capulet Gen Zers are using their cell phones to document the eruptions of violence plaguing their communities. In the middle of it all, Romeo discovers Juliet’s artwork at a party, and the two inevitably fall in love. As tensions between their families escalate, the two plead for peace and desperately search for a way to escape their star-crossed destiny.

The film is entirely told through social media and smartphone screens. The story blends text messages and Shakespearean dialogue, in which it uses GIFs, Spotify playlists, and Instagram profiles to further their romance.

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LRM Online’s Gig Patta chatted with composer René G. Boscio on the film. We talked about his inspirations and development of the composition for this Romeo & Juliet story.

René G. Boscio is a Los Angeles-based Puerto Rican composer, who uses a blend of Latino instruments with modern, experimental electronics. He scored the documentary Before We Leave Venezuela and with The Time Capsule. He worked on more than 100 episodes of television shows for additional music, including CW’s Riverdale, NBC’s Blindspot, and CW’s The Flash.

R#J premieres tonight at the Sundance Film Festival.

Watch the exclusive interview below. Let us know what you think.

Source: LRM Online Exclusive, Sundance