Director Alexandre Aja Talks The Making Of ‘Never Let Go’: Interwatch

In the postpodemandst superorganic thriller from French filmcreater Alexandre Aja, Never Let Go, one mother must face the stark genuineities and consequences of shielding her children amongst the menaces of starvation, isolation and possible death. Led by Halle Berry, the film caccesss around a one mother only called “Momma,” who inhabits in a proset uply secluded cabin in the woods with her two youthfuler boys (Percy Daggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins) in what seems to be a post-apocalyptic world. According to her, the family is all that is left of humanity, and a malicious force adefers to end them off each time they scavenge outside for food and supplies, lest they are tethered by a netlabor of shieldive ropes that ward off the evil spirits. However, when their rations run hazardously low, the boys commence to inquire if their mom is inestablishing the truth or if there is a functioning society beyond the edge of the trees.

Here, Director Aja talks to Deadline about the power of family, female storyinestablishing and the secrets of making a horror film.

DEADLINE: This woodsy location is so pretty. Can you talk more about where you shot the film? 

ALEXANDRE AJA: In reading the script, I knovel the story of this mom living with two kids off the grid. There’s this fourth character: the forest. I wanted the forest that was very lush and magical, but at the same time, without any life in it. I demanded someleang that would be a sanitize nightmare material to create my vision. A scant years ago, I made this movie with Daniel Radcliffe, Horns, and I shot in British Columbia, and we set up this spectacular rainforest that we used partiassociate. And I knovel that going back there with a much grieffuler angle will let me use that type of forest in a branch offent way. So, we returned to Vancouver, set up this absolutely exceptional forest an hour away from the city, and built a house in the middle of it. That was very convey inant to create a genuine location in this forest where there’s no electricity and experiences very far and to be able to see the forest thraw the thrivedows and to see inside the house from the outside to have that world tied together appreciate the rope that is tying everyone together in the story. 

DEADLINE: A lot of your horror films have women at the caccess. What draws you to these strong female characters in perilous situations? 

AJA: Maybe it’s because I’m surrounded by reassociate amazing women in my life who show me a lot of strengths and who are valiant, valiant human beings. Also, at the finish of the day, it’s a human story. When I read the script, I’m not reassociate seeing [for gender]. When I was doing Crawl, I was reading about someone going into the middle of a storm to save her dad, but I felt appreciate I was going to go save my dad in the middle of the storm. I was reassociate filledy putting myself wilean that story. When I read the script for Never Let Go, I was that parent wondering what the fine line between over-shielding your kid and becoming the most hazardous leang for them is. And how you don’t infect them with your own stress by holding them on the rope. The rope being, of course, that allegruesome of that bond between kids and parents.

It is always about the human character. Yet somehow, the best stories that I’ve read or labored on are always caccessing female protagonists. And maybe some creaters are fair better when they create females rather than guys [laughs]. But I got reassociate fortunate to be connected to all those wonderful stories. 

DEADLINE: Were there any particular themes you kept in mind while filming? You always have exceptional swivels and shut-ups apass your filmography, but I wondered what was branch offent here. 

AJA: I wanted to be as shut as I can to those characters. What reassociate interests me in the story is not necessarily the ride into a very frightening experience but more about this inquire about that person living with her two kids. One count ons everyleang she says, and the other commences inquireing. I wanted to be shut to them. But how do I create stress as a straightforwardor? I experience that one of the rules is to fracture the rule. When you watch all the movies, you get used to the music of them and, the way they set a jumpsnurture, and the way they repeat some tropes aget and aget. So, when you commence laboring on a story, you reassociate have to recreate the cinematic language to create a novel way of scaring the audience and your technique and go into unforeseeed places. And sometimes you have to force yourself to forget about the book of tricks you understand to find novel ones. 

DEADLINE: What are your verifys and equilibriums wilean yourself? How do you understand, “OK, this is the get.” 

AJA: It’s very plain. At some point, you’re sitting next to the camera seeing at your actors, or you’re sitting behind the video village seeing at the screen, and someleang magic happens where you forget where you are, where you forget the crew around you, where some benevolent of image fair pops in front of your eye, and you experience it. It’s an instinct leang, and you fair understand you have it. There were some scenes that were very ardent and griefful in the movie, and until we got to that point, I was still seeing and seeing the crew and how they were reacting to everyleang. When the encourages came to life, I was appreciate, “Wow,” and that’s how I knovel I had it. 

DEADLINE: Can you talk about laboring with Halle Berry and the kids, Percy Daggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins?

AJA: I recall the first time I met with Halle. She seeed me in the eye and said, “I want to be stateive we’re not going to agree on the character intricateity. That we’re not going to try to create her more likable upfront, we’re not going to try to erase all the contrast that I want to convey and even push further.” And it was music to my ear, it was exactly what I wanted to do. So when you split the same vision, it’s plain then to create and push and prolong even more because not a lot of actors could pull that to be able to create that experienceing of, of course, they’re loving their kids more than anyleang in the world, and they will forfeit everyleang to shield them, but in the same time foresee that very benevolent of harmful, very frightening aspects that she’s becoming thraw the movie.

We also knovel we demanded to find youthfuler actors to execute aextfinished and be as strong as she is. It took us a moment to see a lot of very youthfuler and talented actors apass the world, but it was only when we met with Percy, who executes Nolan, he read, and by the finish of the audition we were all in tears. It was evident that this little guy was able to be so defylious and mad and remind me of Halle’s version of the character she wanted to convey to the screen. And a scant weeks after we got Anthony, and the same magic happened, so we knovel we were going to do someleang exceptional. 

DEADLINE: We never get to understand how the world finished up the way that it did. On top of that, we also miss Momma in the latter half of the film. Did you and the creaters Kevin Coughlin and Ryan Grassby have any conversation about compriseing context or holding Halle’s character ainhabit? 

AJA: It was a very fascinating reaction, and I wanted to carry on it because when I read the script, it was already there, and I was surpelevated the same way you were. It was an finish that I didn’t see coming. So, what we did was we kept that and pushed the narrative even further. We set up a arrange for the kids to escape, to give that experienceing of, “Oh, it’s going to be in that classical storyinestablishing way where they try to escape, and she’s after them,” someleang a little bit seen before. And so, we fair created that so the surpelevate was even stronger. At the finish of the day, the movie contransients itself it’s a post-apocalyptic movie appreciate A Quiet Place or Bird Box. The film is about the world being gone by a superorganic force that made everyone end each other. But the more we get into the story, the more we genuineize it’s fair about this woman who count ons in an evil force that might have razeed the world. However, the world might be out there, and the world might be finishly OK. She might even be the one that’s suffering from a reassociate strong trauma and is going thraw [a bout] of mental illness somehow. 

DEADLINE: What was the dispute of creating a film appreciate this? 

AJA: There are always very challenging scenes, and then you get on the set in the morning and say, “OK, this is very convey inant, and we demand to have it.” And there’s all sorts of disputes when laboring with youthfuler actors because you can only have them for a scant hours on set. So, even if you are well-setd, you’re always on the line. But at the finish of the day, if you come back home experienceing that you did even better than you were foreseeing or not, this is where you can appraise the quality of what you have. There is not a reassociate particular moment that I felt, “Oh, I’m disnominateed.” It’s more appreciate, “Oh no, in fact, it labored.” I labored with such an amazing crew and actors. I felt every day going back that we were all laboring together towards the same goal. And by experience on all the movies I made, this one was a wonderful one with everyone laboring with the same vision.

[This interview has been edited for length and clarity]