Last Tuesday, the horror/drama Swallow, starring Haley Bennett, screened at the NeueHouse.
Immediately following the screening, there was a Q&A hosted by Joe Wright, executive producer on the film. In attendance was Haley Bennett (lead), Carlo Mirabella-Davis (writer/director), and Erin Magill (production designer). Wright asked a series of questions to all three of the members, where they discussed the film and how it came to fruition.
The film follows one woman’s unraveling as she struggles to reclaim independence in the face of an oppressive system by whatever means possible. Mirabella-Davis made sure to sprinkle in hints and waves of blatant satirical sexism in order to prove a much bigger issue that needed to be addressed.
The first question was aimed at the Mirabella-Davis, who explained the origins of the screenplay. The inspiration stems from his grandmother who was a homemaker in the ‘50’s in an unhappy marriage who developed various rituals of control.
In addition, he became interested in the objects that had been surgically removed from the stomachs of some people who suffered from Pica, an eating disorder that involves eating items that are not typically thought as food.
Haley Bennet spoke on how she had a close personal relationship with the film. Bennet stated that “while this film is kind of this cross genre of body horror and genre and black humor, I thought it would be really interesting if I could develop a character that was so deeply nuanced and also lean into the light touch and humor of the situation.”
Bennet showed how she developed her character onto the screen in her stellar performance as the struggling protagonist. Bennet was so close to her character that she started carrying around a notebook with thoughts she has written down from throughout the production process, which were too personal to share.
Erin Magill spoke on some of the ways she was able to create such a realistic production design for the film. She shared that a lot of her inspiration for the production set was in the characters, where she was able to distinguish their motives and dynamic.
From there Magill was able to set the tone for the rest of the film. She stated “throughout the film, you want these two characters to love each other, and they did, and I think that kind of rollercoaster of the couples’ relationship and the tension there was in the bones of that house.”
The film is definitely an important watch, for both its film style and social messages. The style has the conventional horror tropes mixed with real issues that, fortunately for everyone, the writer kept to that rather than falling to the classic horror endings. The point was made and deserves to be listened to.
Swallow is set to arrive in theaters and VOD on March 6 from IFC Films.
