Interview With "Handling The Undead" Director/Co-Writer Thea Hvistendahl

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[00:01:02] We took it all.

[00:01:09] We brought them to this night, amber hot and icy cold, the rage of the earth.

[00:01:19] We made this curse.

[00:01:20] Carved it in the blood on our backs.

[00:01:24] We did not see.

[00:01:26] We could not, but she did.

[00:01:27] And in the end...

[00:01:28] What will I become?

[00:01:29] Senua's Saga, Hellblade 2.

[00:01:34] Play it now with Game Pass.

[00:01:38] You are listening to the Next Best Picture podcast and this is Cody Derrickson's interview

[00:01:42] with the director and co-writer for Halo.

[00:02:26] Hello, this is Cody Derrickson with Next Best Picture and I'm so happy to be speaking

[00:02:33] with the director and co-writer of the new film Handling the Undead, Taya Fistendahl.

[00:02:39] Taya, thank you so much for joining me.

[00:02:41] Thank you.

[00:02:42] Now Handling the Undead is a movie about, as the title suggests, the dead coming back

[00:02:46] to life, but I would say it's not anything like any zombie movie I've ever seen.

[00:02:52] Even calling it a zombie movie doesn't feel quite correct.

[00:02:56] It really deals with the ramifications of what would likely actually happen if our departed

[00:03:01] loved ones started coming back to life.

[00:03:04] Can you tell me what attracted you to the original novel which the film is based on?

[00:03:08] I think it was actually that it was, or it felt like a realistic portrayal of how it

[00:03:16] would actually look like.

[00:03:18] And I think that how the novel deals with more like humanist questions of what that

[00:03:24] would be was the interesting part.

[00:03:26] And also I love that the novel doesn't give an answer on why it happened and it has like

[00:03:31] more magical, realist approach to it.

[00:03:33] It just happens and it's not explained, but it's not really what it's about either.

[00:03:38] But it's about all the questions that arise and how it would actually feel to get your,

[00:03:44] or I guess what most people have when they lose someone they love is you get this very

[00:03:49] profound but impossible wish that you want them to come back.

[00:03:53] But then it's not possible.

[00:03:55] It's the only thing that we haven't conquered as humans, but like going in and exploring

[00:04:00] like how it would actually look like was something that drew me to the novel.

[00:04:06] Yeah, when I was describing it to friends, I was saying it's almost biological, like

[00:04:11] a reverse mortality in a way, which is really something I haven't seen before.

[00:04:16] And I've seen quite a few zombie movies in my day.

[00:04:20] Now, did the novel have a similar grounded quality or was that like you said, something

[00:04:24] that attracted you to it?

[00:04:25] Or did you accentuate that a little bit?

[00:04:28] No, no.

[00:04:28] The novel is very grounded as well.

[00:04:30] I think all his work is and that's what is so fascinating about it.

[00:04:34] That is like his unique way of lending the supernatural, but with a very like realistic

[00:04:41] and humane take and characters that are interesting, but also very relatable.

[00:04:46] And it's always quite melancholic the way he does it.

[00:04:50] But there's also this unsettling feeling to his work.

[00:04:55] So you co-wrote the screenplay with John Ava de Linkvist, who wrote the novel.

[00:05:00] Can you tell me what it was like working with the original author on a collaborative

[00:05:04] adaptation?

[00:05:05] Yes.

[00:05:06] So the thing was that he adapted this book himself like 15 years ago for another director

[00:05:13] in Sweden, but that film never got made.

[00:05:17] And then so when I got the rights, I also inherited that old script.

[00:05:23] So he had already done some or a lot of changes, I would say, from the book to the film and

[00:05:28] focused it more on the families, because in the book there are also this storyline with

[00:05:34] like how the politicians deal with having these undead back and like what they should

[00:05:38] do with them, what they should call them.

[00:05:40] And that are all like fascinating things or points, really.

[00:05:45] But then you have to take away something because the book is quite broad and you want to be

[00:05:51] more focused and the stories to be linked thematically.

[00:05:55] He was very generous and then he let me rewrite it how I wanted it or he trusted me.

[00:06:01] And then I more sent it to him for just so he could look through it and accept the changes.

[00:06:09] And some things he was first like a little bit not sure about, but then he was always

[00:06:14] giving me the benefit of his doubt.

[00:06:18] And it was very nice.

[00:06:19] And we met one day in his house in the archipelago in Sweden.

[00:06:23] That was lovely. And he read through the whole script that he had written.

[00:06:27] And we talked about different characters in the stories.

[00:06:30] And then I spent quite some years actually to figure it out because the first script,

[00:06:35] I think, had some things that didn't really work.

[00:06:37] So first I tried to like broaden it, but then it just became more and more and more.

[00:06:42] So in the end, I ended up distilling the book very much.

[00:06:46] So I feel like now the film is very much like just the essence of the book.

[00:06:50] But when you read the book, it's much wider.

[00:06:54] So it was almost an adoption and adaptation in a way.

[00:06:57] Yes.

[00:06:59] Gotcha.

[00:07:00] Well, two of your actors, Renata Rainzevá and Anders Danielsen-Lee, have starred together

[00:07:05] in several movies before this one, most notably The Worst Person in the World.

[00:07:10] And they don't share any scenes in your film.

[00:07:12] But can you tell me what was your thinking behind casting the two of them?

[00:07:16] Yes. So Anders, he was attached to the project since 2019 or 18.

[00:07:24] So he was always going to be playing David.

[00:07:27] And then when I passed it back in 2019, Renata was going to have a child

[00:07:32] so she can do the auditions.

[00:07:34] But then because we were maybe going to make it back then, which we didn't,

[00:07:37] which I'm very happy about now.

[00:07:39] And then I did a new casting of her character and that she was available

[00:07:44] in 2021, I guess.

[00:07:48] Yeah, it was at least before The Worst Person in the World had come out.

[00:07:52] So I did know that they had played in the same film.

[00:07:56] So I was actually a bit uncertain if it was the right thing to do,

[00:08:00] to have them play together again.

[00:08:03] But then I felt like, OK, it's OK since they don't share any scenes together.

[00:08:07] It's OK. But then, of course, I didn't know that The Worst Person in the World

[00:08:10] was going to be like a major worldwide hit and that people would suddenly

[00:08:15] have like an expectation of them together or loving them as a couple.

[00:08:20] Yeah, I didn't know or didn't think about that when casting.

[00:08:24] It was more like feeling that it was unoriginal to take two of the same actors

[00:08:30] that Joakim had.

[00:08:31] But then again, Renate was definitely the best

[00:08:35] in the auditions for the character and she just added so much to that character.

[00:08:40] So I'm very happy about the choice.

[00:08:45] We took it all.

[00:08:47] We brought them to our land.

[00:08:50] An endless night, ember hot and icy cold.

[00:08:55] The rage of the earth.

[00:08:57] We made this curse.

[00:09:00] Carved it in the blood of our backs.

[00:09:03] We did not see.

[00:09:04] We could not, but she did.

[00:09:07] And in the end, what will I become?

[00:09:09] Senua's Saga. Hellblade II.

[00:09:12] Play it now with Game Pass.

[00:09:14] Especially because they're playing such different characters

[00:09:16] than I've seen them play before in the two trigger films.

[00:09:19] That's really exciting to see them do something new in your movie.

[00:09:23] Yes, that's also a good film. I like that.

[00:09:25] Now, part of what makes your film so distinct is Paul Ulvek

[00:09:29] Rakseth's cinematography, which is so gorgeous.

[00:09:32] And it lends the film this strange, dark beauty.

[00:09:36] Can you talk about your pre-production discussions with him

[00:09:39] regarding how you wanted the film to look?

[00:09:41] Quite early, I knew that I wanted the film to have this

[00:09:45] or that we should make something called the daylight darkness

[00:09:50] because a lot of the film is set during the daytime.

[00:09:53] And then also the story is very like how it's told

[00:09:57] or not how it's told, but like the story is actually quite dramatic.

[00:10:01] And it takes a lot of time before it gets creepy or I don't know.

[00:10:06] But then I wanted the film to be like both heartbreaking and unsettling.

[00:10:09] So I knew that I needed cinematography and sound design

[00:10:13] to help make the story more unsettling, I guess.

[00:10:17] And also I wanted to have a more observational style to the film

[00:10:22] because it's so... the characters are in such deep grief from the beginning.

[00:10:28] So if you or I felt at least like if you push that on the audience

[00:10:33] from the beginning, it will be very tiring to watch.

[00:10:36] And I also feel that like films with that has different storylines

[00:10:40] are not working in the same way as where you follow like one character

[00:10:44] where the character is the most important and you get to know them.

[00:10:47] But in a film with different storylines, it's more like of a thematic pull

[00:10:52] like I think through the film.

[00:10:54] So that's why I wanted it to be a bit more observational,

[00:10:57] but also to always have something hidden in the shots

[00:11:02] to make this unsettling feeling so that the audience wouldn't always know

[00:11:06] when there would be like some sensible or sense that you didn't get the whole picture

[00:11:11] or that something maybe would happen outside of the frame

[00:11:14] or that you didn't see everything all the time.

[00:11:18] So that was mainly or like a lot of the choices for the cinematography

[00:11:23] was to to give some like creepiness to attention,

[00:11:28] even though it's very it's quite slow.

[00:11:30] But it's it was to to do that.

[00:11:32] And also, of course, in thematic ways to like show the isolation of the characters,

[00:11:37] but also get like their body movements and see them interacting with each other

[00:11:40] or like not interacting with each other.

[00:11:42] But that's a way of interacting as well.

[00:11:45] It is a very patient film, but there is that unease around the edges of the frame.

[00:11:50] So mission accomplished.

[00:11:54] One of the more startling moments, though, in the film is not patient or slow.

[00:11:58] It involves a rabbit.

[00:12:00] I'm not going to say anything else besides that.

[00:12:02] It is so realistic as to be genuinely upsetting.

[00:12:05] And my audience at Sundance was very vocally unnerved.

[00:12:09] So good job there, I guess.

[00:12:13] Can you tell me what it was like filming a scene like that?

[00:12:15] Yeah, I mean, that was one of the key scenes, of course,

[00:12:19] and also one of the longer scenes actually in the script.

[00:12:22] And we did a lot of like rehearsing just to like figure out

[00:12:27] the mise en scene in the scene and all of that.

[00:12:29] We ended up using two rabbits and the veterinary.

[00:12:33] She was also the owner of the rabbits.

[00:12:35] So she was there making sure that they had a good time.

[00:12:39] I mean, like always filming with animals, you never know how it will go.

[00:12:44] Yeah. How it was to film that scene?

[00:12:46] I think it's more like when you're on set, you're just like, oh, yes,

[00:12:50] we got like a little bit of it sprawling because that's hard to make the rabbit

[00:12:55] do a little bit of this because they usually are very still.

[00:12:59] And yeah, so you have to hold them a bit loose to make them do like this.

[00:13:04] Filming it is not as upsetting

[00:13:07] as it is.

[00:13:10] I was just happy that we got the shots that we got.

[00:13:13] Well, I assumed it was OK, but it is nice to hear from you directly.

[00:13:19] They were they were taking good care of.

[00:13:21] And like what we also had to.

[00:13:23] So if one rabbit got a little bit tired and we just shifted

[00:13:27] to the other one.

[00:13:29] And also there's a lot of other shots there that doesn't involve the rabbits.

[00:13:33] We made sure that they got some breaks.

[00:13:35] Actually, our trailer.

[00:13:38] Well, I'm approaching the end of my time with you here, unfortunately.

[00:13:41] But as somebody who loves the horror genre before we leave,

[00:13:46] can you just tell me what you appreciate about horror?

[00:13:48] I love the way that it heightens our view

[00:13:53] on like the psychological mechanisms and that I don't know.

[00:13:57] I think that doing something like abstract or supernatural

[00:14:01] in the story just makes it more on point or like you can discuss

[00:14:07] human psychological mechanisms in a different way, but still feel very

[00:14:12] real, I guess.

[00:14:14] Usually for me, I prefer the more unsettling or canny,

[00:14:17] like creepy stuff rather than the very like jump scary stuff.

[00:14:22] I'm right there with you.

[00:14:24] So I understand completely.

[00:14:26] Well, Taya, thank you so much for joining me.

[00:14:28] I want to say congrats on Handling the Undead and have a great rest of your day.

[00:14:33] It's you too. Nice to talk to you.

[00:14:35] Hey, everyone. Thank you so much for listening to Cody Derrick's

[00:14:38] his interview with the director and co-writer for the film Handling the Undead.

[00:14:42] Taya Vistendahl here on the Next Best Picture podcast.

[00:14:46] Handling the Undead is now playing in theaters from Neon.

[00:14:49] You have been listening to the Next Best Picture podcast.

[00:14:52] We are proud to be part of the Evergreen Podcast Network,

[00:14:54] and you can subscribe to us anywhere where you subscribe to podcasts.

[00:14:59] Be sure to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts

[00:15:01] and let us know what you think of the show.

[00:15:03] We really appreciate your feedback and your support,

[00:15:06] which you can also lend on over at Patreon for one dollar minimum a month.

[00:15:10] You'll get some exclusive podcast content from us.

[00:15:14] Thank you all so much for listening, as always.

[00:15:16] And we will see you all next time.

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