Presented by Producer M. Night Shyamalan (a name familiar to all horror fans) warderthe director is a name they will soon know: Ishanna Night Shyamalan. This function comes from servant The filmmakers adapted the book from AM Shine; starring Dakota Fanning as Mina, an artist lost in the mysterious, unspoilt Irish woodlands.
Mina is invited to enter the shelter with three strangers led by Madeleine (Olvin Fuere). They are all trapped by supernatural creatures called “Watchers” who demand that human captives each Late show. io9 recently spoke with directors Ishana Shyamalan and Georgina Campbell, who plays another prisoner in the film.
Sabina Graves, io9: Ishana, I’m a folklore reader and love the way creepy fantasy lore is handled in movies. What came first to you – the desire to explore mythology, or the novel that inspired the film?
Ishana Shyamalan: [The mythology’s] It was kind of embedded in the book, but it was that element, that folklore thing, that convinced me that I wanted to write the book. I think it’s a cool mythology that I haven’t really seen yet. Like you, I’m addicted to thinking about and reading folklore, so it felt perfect.
io9: We won’t reveal the nature of the woodland creatures, but I think they’re pretty weird and scary. Were the concepts completed on set or did the actors have to imagine them?
Georgina Campbell: This is imagined. Yes, this is a figment of the imagination.
Shyamalan: I sent them a lookbook beforehand with sketches, like very rough sketches, of what they were going to look like. but [I] Want to keep it as mysterious as possible to them. And, to me, it’s kind of centered around a family dynamic that spirals around each other and even fear of what might happen. something outside. I think that helps us keep it in a grounded space.
io9: The whole band really moved through the woods, barely breaking away from each other. What is it like to create a dynamic between these strangers who need to trust each other to survive?
Shyamalan: I think I just happened to find these four electric actors who were all very specific and had their own quality of being and were very lively and wonderful. A lot of it has to do with the chemistry of the family dynamic. So mother, sister, brother—that feeling, and playing with people who I think inspire that feeling in each other.
Campbell: Really, it’s all in the script. I feel like all women do, Olwen [was] She is so mysterious that you are fascinated by her. When she was on set, the way she talked, the way she was so passionate, [fits] Her role is that of a leader and someone everyone respects. And then obviously Dakota comes in and she’s an outsider. She is new here. It was great working with both of them.
io9: What was the best part about evoking that classic fairytale-like journey into the woods during the shoot – was that intentional during the shoot?
Shyamalan: I was really attracted to the structure of Grimm’s fairy tales. I think it’s really cool to take a classic storytelling approach, like a very clean story of a character entering a world and then it just keeps expanding, expanding, expanding. So to me, the style of the film is an homage to classic gothic fairy tales.
Campbell: We were together in most scenes. So it’s really about the ensemble. This is about all of us, what happened to all of us? What do we all think? It’s really fun to play. [Ishana’s] She is smart and knows exactly what she wants. She comes in very prepared, but she’s also very open to hearing people’s opinions and hearing your ideas, which is really nice when you can have a back-and-forth discussion.
warder Opening Friday 7th June.
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