Interview: The capital manager Julia Max wrestles with the demons of Death's Demons

The handover is a mother-daughter story with resurrection, lost souls and separate parts of the body. Julia MaxIntimate horror film is also about family binding and conflicts in view of the loss – the terror to say goodbye. “Really, that should have come out on Mother's Day,” Max Half-Jokes. “Let's be honest. We are close enough.”

The well-recorded shudder picture is a personal horror story of Max, which previously staged the hit Horror shortPresent Pieces from me. She was inspired to write her feature government debut after experiencing the loss of her stepfather. She researches the past by Megan (Colby Minifie) and Barbara (Kate Burton) while they discuss the revival of the deceased.

Recently Max spoke to Dead every day About the origin of The handover And the Catharsis of Horror.

How did you inspire your experience with a real Death Doula?

Julia Max: When my mother told me that she wanted to hire a Death Doula, I had no idea what it was. It sounded like a mystical person. I didn't know what that would bring with it, but I assumed that it was the opposite of a Doula that helps them be able to give birth. I was like I am not sure what it looks like, but it feels resurrection-y.Right? And when we started to respect the body by cleaning it and putting it on in this new clothing – all sound very creepy and frightening for me. I added some of these moments to the film, but in reality it was actually nice.

Really?

Julia Max: Don't get me wrong [it was] Sometimes strange and uncomfortable, but it provided some closings that we usually don't get when they crash the body immediately. But yes, I always thought that could have been much worse, and if it were, what would that have? And that was exactly what was the film.

What do you think immediately could go very wrong?

Julia Max: The very first thing my mother said was: “We have to reject the temperature to keep the body cold so that he can stay with us overnight.” I watch a lot of horror films. In general, it seems to be a bad idea to keep a body in the house with you. Of course it is somehow brought back to life and both kill us. That sounds a matter of course, isn't it? That was the first thought that jumped.

I quickly have Spirallos and saw how upset my mother was while all of that and how difficult it was for her to go forward. I was always worried like Oh man, what if she can't let go? What if she doesn't let her take away his body? What should I do? I tried to support her and give her what she wanted and needed at that moment.

The mother-daughter dynamics feel very honest in this film. I wanted to know something about the unspoken relationship between a daughter and a mother. What did you want to say between the lines?

Julia Max: Oh man. I think mothers and daughters have very complicated relationships. So much that is said and so much below the surface that is not said. For me, my mother and I don't always see eyes in the eye, but I love her and really want to support you as much as possible, especially in a difficult situation. But if you get these feelings going, both mother and daughter know exactly where the buttons are and how to press them. It can be difficult to be the best, supportive version of yourself in these moments. I wanted to grasp this thrust and dragging – to communicate this fight so much, to communicate, to be seen and be heard while I was not completely able.

Did the film make cathartic?

Very cathartic – to write about it and to process it with a little distance, how, how, Oh, I'm writing to other people. It enabled me to look at everything more objectively and clearer, but it also forced me to think more from my mother's perspective. It was an eye opening because I think it is really difficult to see your parents as humans. Writing the mother figure in an authentic way forced me to do this as I never had to do before.

Part of the reason why I wondered if The handover Was cathartic–It is also a lot of fun.

Julia Max: I am so glad that you said that! I keep saying FunAnd my husband, Ian McDonaldwho is also a producer goes on, “Is that the right word?“And I am like:” I think it's fun … “

Lost souls, seede, creepy eyes, gnarled effects–That's fun. You can also take pain and do something positive for yourself.

Julia Max: If I had written this as a heterosexual drama, it would have been absolutely miserable. It would have been a pretty miserable and depressing time to make the film, and I don't think people wanted to see it. What is fantastic about horror is that you can deal with these weighty topics, but through this funny and creepy, beyond lens that only opens the doors too much more. There is so much more that you can show instead of saying. That's why I love horror. It's just the best genre.

The introduction of death doula–He is this threatening, shady figure behind a door. How did you and your cameraman do Cailin? [Yatsko] First, imagine presenting this almost mystical force to history?

Julia Max: It's funny, because that was not what I initially intended for the intro shot. When trying to solve a problem, we actually created one of my favorite shots. Neil Sandilandswho plays the man, we only had it for a week. He came from Cape Town and came directly from a tour, so we had it for such a short time. We also didn't make any night shooting. We had a few divided days, but most of it was shot during the day. We realized that, Oh my god, there is no way for us to show Neil in the door because all of his things are shot during the day. What do we do? How can we have this picture? To be honest, that's not really him, this shadow. This is our line producer, Adam MaffeiI stood there for weeks in his wardrobe before Neil came to the city. We made this fraud on our divided day when it was actually night.

How did you and Cailin make a film that feels like death?

Julia Max: We brought our editor with us Sushila loveEarly so that we three could speak through the storyboards and make sure that we get all the reporting – everything we could want. This was a low-budget film, so we knew that we would not have a pick-up day.

We spoke through the camera movement and how I wanted the camera reflect the characters' emotional trips. It was important that we had a pronounced feeling for the first act, the second second and the third act – that they all feel different. The color palette that we use in the first act-and the camera setup is many very wide, closed recordings. We were very inspired by the film Jeanne Dielman [23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles].

We always came back to similar camera setups to show this repeated, captured feeling that you get when they take care of someone who is at the end of their lives. It is monotonous. It will be exhausting. We wanted the audience to feel it unconsciously.

How about Apostle history two and three?

Julia Max: The world is shifting. When we come into the second act, we start with the introduction of movement and warmer colors. We start a few narrower recordings to get more into these characters. After the third act, we are in very warm tones. There is constant movement. We used Black swan As an inspiration for the way the camera is constantly moved in this chaos.

How did you all illuminate the circle of the ceremony? To give our readers an idea of ​​this: Barbara and Megan are surrounded by candles and outside the circle, the pure darkness and the lost souls.

Julia Max: Oh my god, that was an incredible experience. We did that on a sound stage. They called it the “black empty room” and I said: “Perfect – we need that.” We had elaborate plans to make purely practical lighting, then we learned from the fire restrictions, and we said: “Ah, it will not be possible for us to only make practical candlelight. Cool, cool.” We have adapted accordingly. Of course we tried to use as much practical lighting as possible. I am such a fan of practical lighting.

How about your team for practical effects? What did you all want with the dead, the lost souls?

Julia Max: We had an incredible VFX team and also had a great make -up team with special effects. We used Russell FX– You did the last one Hellraiser Film and worked on my previous short film. Sierra Spence directed the fee and worked excellent work on our small budget. I still can't believe what they could achieve. I think there was a moment when we had a hand prosthesis and I looked at it on the monitor and said: “Wow, what happened to Sierra's hand? It looks like it was a bit aged. Doesn't she wear sun protection? What's going on?” And they said: “This is the hand prosthesis.” I totally got myself.

Reach the end of The handoverHow do you feel for mortality, now that it is said and done,?

Julia Max: Losing my stepfather and writing this has more and more realized how important it is to tell people that they are closest to them that they love them. I probably say it too much to my loved ones, but I can't help it. Often we don't really tell people that they mean so much to us. You have these memorial services and everyone talks in detail about how much your loved ones meant for you. And it's how Did you tell them that? Did you know that? And so I really hope that when they get away from it, people need their loved ones, their friends and families to say: “Hey, I love you. You mean the world. I'm so grateful.”

[Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

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Streaming on Friday, May 23rd, stream at the Schauer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yplkyzbpptg