Naomi Watts and Matthew McConaughey are in a new film. And that film was booed at Cannes.

That may sound like a nearly-unbelievable story. But those who were there say it is true. More than that, Matthew McConaughey says so.

Naomi Watts and Matthew McConaughey star in Gus Van Sant’s The Sea of Trees, which was shown at the Cannes Film Festival.

“I just had to get my hands on the script,” Naomi Watts says of the film.” At the centre of it was this beautiful love story that was painful and tragic, but seemed to represent something that was really human and really universal to me.”

Matthew McConaughey was very congenial about the entire experience.

“I’m happy to be here. I’m happy to be invited. I’m happy that the film got in. It was a great experience for me. I liked the experience of making it and I’m glad we got the opportunity to introduce it to the world. I’m working in the United States but it’s exciting for me to come here and support work that got I to do with these people. This is fun. I look at this as sort of [eating] dessert. No matter what, we’ve declared now: here it is! Thanks for having us, hope you enjoy it.”

When asked about the negative reaction the film got, McCaonaughey replied, “Anyone has any right to either boo or ovate.”

He drew a distinction between his role in Interstellar, which was well-received, and this film.

“Interstellar was an exploration ‘out there.’ This was an exploration ‘in here’” and pointed to his chest.

“In Interstellar there was a goal, to get there and get back home. This one was more moment-to-moment. With this guy I kept saying to myself: ‘I don’t know what I’m doing’ and then I realized, ‘That’s perfect for Arthur.’”