Now, we know Halloween was yesterday, but we're still feeling the scary vibe of the holiday and thought we'd share with this video of Rachel Nichols talking about her movie "P2", along with an interview with the film's director.
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Franck Khalfoun, first-time feature-film director of the suspense-filled thriller, "P2," agreed to chat with me about his film. Khalfoun, having had been writing for over twenty years on various projects, is admittedly excited about his first big movie as a director. "P2" is the name of both the film and the level in the parking structure in which a young, ladder-climbing executive, Angela Bridges (Rachael Nichols), finds herself being held hostage by a security guard, Thomas (Wes Bentley), who has apparently been stalking her for some time. It's Christmas Eve, her cell phone doesn't work and Angela soon realizes the only way she can get out of this situation alive is to rely on her own resources to escape.
Keep in mind that I haven't yet seen the film, which opens in theaters November 9th, but I did check out the trailer, and I'm going to be honest--I'm the WORST when it comes to watching movies that are remotely scary. Seriously. I passed out when watching foot surgery in high school. But, I am a lover of film, and I was excited to talk with someone who had just gotten his big break and wasn't yet too jaded and big for his britches to chat with us.
Well, it's funny because when I started watching the trailer and reading the synopsis, it reminds me a lot of a Richard Linklater from 2001 - I don't know if you're familiar with it, it's called "Tape." And it kind of reminded me just because it was three characters only, in the movie, and they were all in a hotel room the entire time. And it wasn't quite a psychological thriller in the sense that yours is, but I love the idea of a finite space and just very few characters, so that it becomes very internal.
Yes, it's fun, but at the same time challenging to make a movie that's interesting. I don't know that movie--you stumped me, but I'm going to have to check it out.
Check out the rest of Lisa's interview with Franck after the jump--if you dare, mwahahaha!
(It's not really that scary. I was kidding. But seriously, you should keep reading...)
Now, would you say that you're--am I correct in believing that this is your first time as a director of a feature film?
This is my first picture, yes. I've written many things for the last twenty years, but this is my first feature, yes.
So, I'm wondering, did just happen to be that you had this idea for a psychological thriller and that just happened to be your first film, or is that really where your interest lies--in that genre?
No, you know, I like all movies--all kinds of genres. I'm a big movie fan. This one happened to be the first one because it seemed like a perfect choice for a movie, a smaller cast, a controlled location--it really just all came together.
And with such a small cast, casting must have been so crucial for you. How was the process of finding these two people to carry the movie?
(We then had to pause for a moment for Franck to move his cat, who had been pestering him. It seriously sounded like he was murdering the thing, but he assured me it was just whining. I believe him just because he really did sound like a friendly guy--despite the twisted premise of his first feature film. And then we returned back to the question...)
Yeah, they had to be good and the audience had to cheer and like them and want to follow them for an hour and a half. So yeah, it was very difficult and nerve-wracking, especially in today's climate and when you look at movies, there are a lot of these romantic comedies. Something that is edgy and different--they're scared, you know? In this one, the characters, one is crazy and--I say crazy, but Thomas is written and he's really very real. He has a lot of emotional range and he's a complicated person, he's a complicated character. It's not just some guy torturing a woman. I mean, he's got issues. He's kind of lost and you feel for him and that's something that you--you want an actor that can do. You know, he's funny at times and he's light at times and he's crazy and tortured at times and emotional. We really had to find somebody who could handle all of those elements--who had the range. And as far as Rachel, it was important that we had an intelligent woman not just some, you know, some blonde, screaming bimbo. This character is supposed to be a corporate climber, as they say, and she's a hard worker and you have to be able to believe that she could fit that and so, you know, Rachel was well-spoken, eloquent and a smart girl and it was important that we have that in the character, so that people like her. And she's cute, and that helps.
That definitely helps.
In the genre, you know.
Well, that's the thing, playing within the rules of the genre, but still trying to re-create the idea every time.
Absolutely, we want people to be scared, we want to deliver the elements that people are looking forward to, but we also think that the majority of the audiences out there want something more--they want something real. I didn't want monsters in the closet kind of thing. I wanted a realistic situation because I feel that makes it so much more terrifying.
It's funny how you mention monsters in the closet, because I almost felt like, just from watching the trailer, and understanding the premise that it's almost as if the parking garage itself is a character.
When we were casting this movie, we always believed the parking garage is the main character. It's the fear. That's why we just need good actors. We don't need big name actors that can't act, we need big actors, because they need to be able to sustain us through this. We need actors who can keep us in the movie because the thing that people are afraid of, what they're fearing the most, is the parking lot, which is the main character.
Yes and watching the trailer, I thought, "This could happen to me," or anyone I know, because we all at some point have to go into a parking garage.
Exactly, and the movie is like a guide on how to survive a parking attack.
And as you may or may not know, I do love how-to survival guides, so I might be tricked into sneaking into the theater based on that premise. For those of you braver souls, you can see "P2" in theaters November 9th, and for more information, check out the movie's website at p2themovie.com.
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