Opening in theaters on September 2nd is the new survival thriller ‘Fall 2: Deadpoint‘, which is a sequel to 2022’s ‘Fall‘ and was directed by Peter and Michael Spierig (‘Predestination‘).
The film stars Harriet Slater (‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny‘), Arsema Thomas (‘Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story‘), Tom Brittney (‘The Westies‘), and Grace Caroline Currey (‘Shazam!‘).
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with directors Peter and Michael Spierig about their work on ‘Fall 2: Deadpoint’, the screenplay, setting it apart from the first movie, the stunts, the cast, their directing style, and the legacy of their 2014 film ‘Predestination’ starring Ethan Hawke.
Related Article: Grace Caroline Currey Talks ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’
(L to R) Harriet Slater as Jax Hunter and Arsema Thomas as Luce in ‘Fall 2: Deadpoint’. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Lionsgate.
Moviefone: To begin with, Peter, can you talk about your first reaction to the screenplay and the way it tells a new story while still wrapping up loose ends from the first film?
Peter Spierig: I mean, it was great to see that the script was so solid right from the get-go. It’s always a little nerve-wracking when you read the first draft and it was really solid. It was all there, and the first draft is very close to the movie that we made. Jonathan (Frank) and Scott (Mann) spent a lot of time working the characters through the story of the first film into the second film and finding a balance between new characters and the legacy characters, and finding a way for that to work all together and be satisfying. They did a great job right from the get-go. So we were very thrilled that it was there from day one.
MF: Michael, were you a fan of the first film and as a director what did you want to do with the sequel to make it different than the original?
Michael Spierig: Look, Peter and I were big fans of the first film. The first film surprised me. I saw the poster and I thought, “That’s freaky, and that’s scary.” Then when I saw the film, I was surprised at how good it was. It hit all the right notes, the tension, the fear, the vertigo, all those things that it promised in that poster. Sometimes these films lie to you in the poster. This certainly didn’t. I was surprised at the quality of the filmmaking. I was surprised by the performances, and I was surprised at how much I cared about what was going on with the girls. So Peter and I were just big fans of it, and we love genre pictures. We love those contained thrillers where it’s just a couple people and those situations. The audience are constantly asking themselves, “Don’t do it, don’t do it.” What we tried to re-inject with the sequel is bring back that same feeling. That was our first goal. They did such a good job creating that vertigo, those thrills, that tension. We’ve got to make sure that works in this one and then try to expand it with something new, and try to do something a little different. The first movie is very much going up, vertical. Our film goes up and horizontal. So there’s a big difference. They’re navigating a path rather than stuck on a platform. And lots of hair raising events follow as they try to get to the peak of this mountain.
MF: Peter, can you talk about working with your stunt team to achieve the climbing sequences, and was it all practical or did you use some VFX?
PS: One of the things Michael and I wanted to do from the very beginning was make the film as practically as possible. We said right from the get-go, no blue screens. We want to photograph as much for real as we can. We want the actors to do as much as they can, what they’re capable and willing to do in terms of the stunt work. We had a great stunt team in Thailand who had done a lot of movies and we felt really reassured with what they were doing. They built essentially a mocked up version of many of the sequences in the parking lot. So we were able to rehearse that with the actors, get them comfortable, get them on wires and falling from heights and doing all that kind of stuff, swinging on different platforms and things like that. They were really game. That’s the stuff that I think you can really see in the movie when the actors are there and they’re doing stuff for real, when we’re not just in an air conditioned studio on a blue screen. It just becomes a very different movie, but they’re out there in the sun, sweating, and it’s all very tactile. It sucks at times being in that environment, but that adds to the movie and that makes it better when the actors are actually feeling some of the stuff that the characters are feeling.
MF: Michael, was there any stunt that you wanted to do that the stunt team advised you against because it was just too dangerous?
MS: There was no stunt. It was more about figuring out how we were going to do it and how much we could bring the actors into the scene. There’s actually one moment in the movie where Harriet has to grab this bar that’s protruding out of the side of the mountain. Harriet did it for real. Now when I say for real, she had a wire out her back, so obviously she was safe, but it was terrifying for her. She was scared to do it and she told us constantly, “I can’t do this.” But she did it and that expression on her face is a hundred percent real. So, she’s very proud of that and we’re really proud of her. There’s stuff in the film that is pretty hairy, pretty terrifying, and a lot of those moments are the actors doing it for real. There is a joy to that. There’s a clumsiness to it as well. There’s a randomness to it that you can’t capture in CGI. There’s a spontaneity to it that is really special, and we’ve captured that. The wonderful thing is, again, it’s essentially two actors, like the first film, for the majority of the movie. So it lives in their intimacy, in their closeups, and in their struggles. So, we’re really fortunate to have such talented actors here, and I think they really bring that drama to it as well as the action.
MF: Peter, can you talk about your casting process and finding Harriet Slater and Arsema Thomas?
PS: We did a pretty extensive casting process. We looked at actors in the US, in the UK, and in Australia, and just went through that process of trying to find the right person. We actually had quite a lot of really good choices, and it came down to the two people that we obviously thought were the best. There’s a process in that too, of pairing them together in the auditions and seeing if the chemistry works, if we feel that these two can relate on screen, not just in dialogue, but also the chemistry and things like that. It’s really hard to know until you put them together. So, we did an extensive audition process to find that out. Arsema and Harriet had done a lot of television work, and Tom as well. Tom Brittney had done quite a lot of television and they were just total pros. I think when you do a lot of series work, you really get good at technical stuff, but also creative as well. They had a lot to do with the creative process, and we talked a lot about the tweaks and changes to the characters through the process of making the film that they wanted to bring that made it better.
MF: Michael, what was your experience like working with Harriet and Arsema on set?
MS: What’s interesting about Harriet Slater, for example, is Harriet’s such a wonderfully gifted actress, but she also brings a level of naivety to the character. That’s quite exciting because she’s very much the eyes of the audience. So she brings a vulnerability and she’s not a perfect athlete or climber. She brings a very realistic approach to what I think most of us would feel taking that journey. Most of us would be pretty terrified, and Harriet’s wonderful in that way. She brings such a sensitivity and a vulnerability and trying to find that balance. She is the opposite to her sister Shiloh (Virginia Gardner) in the first film. Shiloh’s more of a adventurous, risky, go for it type of person where Jax is more restrained and always felt like she was living in the shadow of her sister. So this is the opportunity for her to reconnect and hopefully reconcile the past a little bit by going on this journey and trying to reconnect with and understand what her sister liked, was into, and why she did these things.
MF: Michael, can you talk about your working process with Peter on set? Do you both split the director’s duties between yourselves, or are you both involved in every decision?
MS: We get asked that question a lot, and that’s an interesting one because Peter and I have grown up making movies together. We love filmmaking. We fell in love with the same types of cinema. So we have a pretty similar mindset when it comes to what we like. We do a lot of preparation, so we’ll storyboard, we’ll plan, we’ll rehearse as much as we can when we get the actors, and we work on the scripts together. So, we pretty much have a very clear plan when we get out and shoot. It’s not like I’m pushing for some completely different idea. It doesn’t work out that way. What happens with these movies, because unfortunately movies tend to be shot so much quicker today than they used to be. So, Peter and I often split up and shoot two units. I’ll be shooting something down on the bridge set and Peter will be up shooting on the Devil’s Elbow set and we’ll just be mixing and mashing. So, it becomes that process that we’ve done a lot. We’ve done it mmany times where we’re running around, and it seems to work out very well as long as we have the ability to plan and prepare and make sure that we’re all on the same page before we get going.
MF: Finally, I’m a huge fan of your film ‘Predestination’, starring Ethan Hawke and Sarah Snook, and I probably return to that movie once or twice a year now. I feel like that film has finally found its audience and has grown in popularity from when it was first released 12 years ago. Peter, as a filmmaker, have you felt that too?
PS: Yeah, definitely. When we finished the film, we thought that it was something that we were incredibly proud of. Then when it came out, it was a bit under the radar, certainly in the US. Then over time, it just keeps growing and growing. Hearing some of the reactions that Ethan and Sarah get from the film too is great. At the time, Sarah Snook was a relatively unknown actress. This was one of her first bigger movies, and she did such an extraordinary job. We all said, “That girl’s going to go somewhere.” It just took a little bit more time than what we thought, but she’s off to the races in a big way. It’s weird to have that happen too, because you just don’t know if anyone’s going to react to a movie, and for it to continue to have a reaction over a decade or so, it’s crazy.
MF: Michael, is there anything you would like to add about ‘Predestination’s legacy?
MS: The one thing I want to add about that movie, look, we’re both extremely proud of it. It’s something very special. Those types of movies are extremely rare that they get made. I mean, Peter and I would like to make more of them. They’re really hard to get through these days. I think we were very fortunate when we made that that we were friends with Ethan Hawke and Ethan helped us push it through. We’re forever grateful to him for that. Making these existential, weird sci-fi movies can be hard to finance but they’re my favorite. It’s my favorite genre. I’m glad we’re seeing more original stuff like ‘Obsession‘ and ‘Backrooms‘ and all. All of these types of movies where we’re seeing some new voices again because we desperately need it and we desperately need filmmakers that break the mold of this studio constructed boardroom design filmmaking and we need auteurs again. We need original ideas and we need people to really swing for the fences again. It’s happening and it’s working, which is great. So more of that please.
What is the plot of ‘Fall 2: Deadpoint’?
After the death of Shiloh Hunter (Virginia Gardner), her sister Jax (Harriet Slater) agrees to a tribute proposed by Shiloh’s daring friend, Luce (Arsema Thomas). The two travel to Thailand to conquer a treacherous plank walk on Mount Kwan, but a sudden rockslide leaves them trapped at a terrifying height of 3,000 feet, forcing the duo to push their limits and cooperate to stay alive.
Who is in the cast of ‘Fall 2: Deadpoint’?
- Harriet Slater as Jax Hunter
- Arsema Thomas as Luce
- Grace Caroline Currey as Becky Connor
- Tom Brittney as TBD
