DeHaan is too busy working away at closing his deal on the phone and computer.
He is too busy being consumed by the great sickness of the modern world.
At least that is what Gore Verbinskis newest horror movie implies with benign malevolence.
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What springs to mind when you first hear gothic horror?
I think of this movie as a contemporary gothic.
Its the Headless Horseman or something.
Whereas I think what I tried to do with this one was say there is no distance.
You are all ripe, we are all ripe, for diagnosis.
This is a sickness that we all have.
Well, have you read this bookThe Magic Mountain?
What is the contemporary illness?
Were born, we go to school, we work, and then get hit by a bus.
What was it all for?
Hes going to fall from a higher place.
So to take him to some place wherethis idea where a diagnosis is a form of absolution.
This idea where none of its your fault, because youre not well.
Youre absolved by your doctor.
Particularly if youre some corporate killer.
Its the great con: youre not well, but its okay; theres a cure.
Had you actually gone to a wellness facility like this?
Hes almost a man out of time.
So did you intentionally visit facilities from that era to take inspiration?
Yeah, we toured a tremendous amount of health spas and sanitariums, and steam baths all over Europe.
But its funny that you mentioned that.
Im particularly interested in the inevitability of things.
I think its taking something really nice, like a warm bath, and corrupting it.
You also mentioned yesterday that this is like a pressure-cooker on the audience.
What do you hope the audience experiences when the timer goes off?
Weve had a few screenings, and I think theyre somewhat fairly destroyed by the end of the movie.
Theyre not well [Laughs].
Yeah, the cure is worse than the disease.
It was interesting, because I remember early screen tests ofThe Ring.
That movie doesnt score well; you dont hand out a card and say, Did you like it?
right after [that ending].
But these movies stick with you three or four days later, because they tap into some deeper issue.
I think we all as a society are in denial right now, and were all ripe for diagnosis.
I thoughtThe Ringtouched on an undercurrent of technophobia and anxiety when it was released.
And now with this, youve said you want it to be theJawsof spas.
But additionally, I think youre dealing with fear of medicine, medical equipment.
Do you think there is a primal fear youre trying to tap into?
A fear of modernity, of self-advancement over the status quo?
I think theres a lotitd be interesting to see how a stockbroker felt going to this movie.
Itd be interesting to see how someone in the pharmaceutical industry would feel going to this movie.
The whole thing is sort of turned on its head.
Just look at the side effects on any of these ads you see on television.
Youre like, Okay, my feet hurt, but wait, suicidal tendencies, anal leakage?
Ill just live with swollen feet.
Im just saying,the beach was a nice place and Spielberg fucked it for everybody.
It also probably helps that you have Jason Isaac there as the clinics director.
I just have to ask: Is there a chance hes the Devil incarnate?
You have to see the movie, but it doesnt go that far.
[Laughs] Jasons always delicious to me.
Every time, hes here to help.
He sees in Lockhart just a path to real destruction if he doesnt stop doing what hes doing.
And theres that sense that I think hes more delicious the more he genuinely cares.
Because thats the madness, thats the nurse saying, How can I not be helpful?
That sort of impenetrable kindness of the place is maddening.
So not letting Jason twirl his pinkyits a cult this place, right?
You go to this place and theres a great man.
Its Kurtz, its a great man and were all following him.
Thats very dangerous in these times.
Could you also talk a little bit about Mia Goths character?
And Mia came in and read, and I was like, Done.
Because thats kind of who she is.
Theres something wonderful [whenever] a child asks you why three times in a row.
[It becomes] thats a really good question.
You hit that place where its like, I never [thought about it like that].
And it takes a kind of childlike perspective to point out whats wrong with us.
She definitely has a very unique point-of-view.
Theres a ghost story, a bloody story, about this castles history from 200 years ago too.
But it seems with supernatural films, youre allowed to blur the timelines a little bit.
I think its how you elevate the genre.
The premise of some great movies are inherently B in their nature.
I tried to build this sort of tiramisu; there are many levels to this place.
Its a place where you’ve got the option to relax.
And then there are the treatments.
And the first treatments seem like, Okay, this is nice.
I can go swimming.
I can take steams.
Then you find out that this place was rebuilt, and that something tragic happened 200 years ago.
So you are descending to get to the truth.
You are descending in the narrative.
Again, the sanitarium looks very early 20th century to me.
Of the technology in it, what was the strangest thing you were able to incorporate in your opinion?
Well, I dont want to give too much away.
So hes developed some unique treatments in terms of purifying our fluids.
Ill leave it at that.
Does that at all pique your interest about one day returning to the sea?
Not in that genre.
Honestly, there has to be growth potential for me.
These are all opportunities to learn.
Thank you so much, this has been a pleasure.
Thank you, really nice meeting you.
