00:00Hi, this is Mariah Gullow from The Hollywood Reporter, and I'm in studio today with Ellen
00:08Page and David Frayn. Hi guys, how are you? Good. We're here to talk about The Cured. Tell
00:15me a little bit about this movie. Obviously, it's a zombie movie, but it's a different kind
00:20of zombie movie. We like to say it's kind of the zombie film where other films end,
00:26so it takes the idea of a cure for this infection, and it starts with these people being cured
00:32and reintegrated back into society after they're infected. So it's about how they deal with
00:36the trauma of what they've done, and how people take them back in, and how society recovers
00:41from that. So it's a unique zombie film. Yeah, so when people come out of the state
00:47of being a zombie, they remember what they've done. And also, I noticed that there's a depth
00:55to the zombies here that you really haven't seen in any other movie. Like, usually they're
00:59just mindless brain eaters, but you've imagined a world where they, you know, there's a system
01:05within that. Yeah, we really want to make sure we kind of put our own imprint on this. So
01:10our infected behave more like wolves, like animals. So they have their own kind of intelligence.
01:16They hunt together. They communicate. So it's a much more complicated system than a normal,
01:22just brain eating zombie. And I think that's kind of interesting, because when they come
01:27back with the cure, that relationship they had, the alpha beta relationship, kind of comes
01:32back with them, and it kind of complicates their guilt a little bit. So yeah, just putting
01:37our own twist on it. Yeah. Ellen, tell me a little bit about your character and how you
01:41got involved in the film. Sure. Well, I got involved because I was sent David's script, and I just
01:47was so compelled and moved and thought it was such a fresh new take, and watched his short
01:54films, which are fantastic. So I just felt lucky to be a part of his first feature. And yeah,
02:01I play Abby, whose husband died during the zombie outbreak, and she's been outside of Dublin for years
02:08with her son as it's, you know, being, everything's being put back together and the situation's being
02:15dealt with. And so she's sort of, you know, returned to life, trying to create a sense of normalcy and
02:22routine for her son, and then brings in her brother-in-law, played by Sam Keeley, and allows
02:27him to stay while he's recovering from being formerly infected. Yeah. Did you get any, did you have any
02:34inspirations from what's happening now in the world? I see tinges of, like, the economic collapse.
02:42I'm seeing a little bit of the refugee problem. Where, where were you pulling your inspiration for
02:48your characters? There's lots of different themes, and one thing I've noticed doing press and hearing
02:53people's responses is so many people have different ideas, or it's meant something different to them.
02:59And I think David did a great job, like a lot of these films do, where they sort of parallel issues
03:06of contemporary culture. And so for me, it was all kinds of things. And in the last week of
03:14pre-production, Trump got elected. So it was easy to pull out a lot of anger and, you know, sadness at that time.
03:23When I started writing it, it was when we had the big recession in Ireland and Europe, and there was
03:29lots of protests. And it's when we had the rise of, of popular, populist politicians there, and like
03:35Farage and Bilders, who were exploiting the fear around them. And again, we never imagined Trump
03:40would happen, but happened, but he was a symptom of what was happening then. You know, he exploits the fear
03:45around him, and he exploits the anger around him for his own ends. And that's why Tom, in the script,
03:50the antagonist is a politician who essentially does that. And he doesn't get his hands dirty,
03:54but he is essentially responsible for what's going on.
03:58A master manipulator. And an alpha.
04:01And an alpha, yeah.
04:02The social thriller is having a big comeback this year, probably because of, you know, all of the
04:08things that we're mentioning, but also the enormous success of Get Out. But the character of a zombie
04:14has always been a stand-in for something else. Can you talk a little bit more about how you
04:20decided to use the zombie within your...
04:24Yeah, I mean, I've always been a fan of the genre of zombie films, and they've always been
04:28a great way of kind of analogy for society. But I think as we've been progressing at the
04:37moment, and the world's becoming scarier and scarier, horror films in general are a great
04:41way of reflecting what's going on. It's a more emotive way, like, as you said, Get Out,
04:46which is wonderful. So yeah, I think it's kind of natural that horror films are having
04:52a moment.
04:53What was the first movie that inspired you as a child?
04:57Wow. For me, it was... I saw Terminator 2. I destroyed that VHS when I was like 10,
05:0311, and that just opened up the potential of cinema. And then I very brief, shortly after
05:08that saw Three Colors Red. And I think it was the two of them together and just... they're
05:13so different, but they both really opened up the potential of cinema for me. So I think
05:18those two together kind of inspired me to be a filmmaker.
05:21Are you attracted to that kind of bleak, dystopian kind of world, that future that's just...
05:27Slutty.
05:28It's very familiar, like your environment that you're existing in The Cured is very familiar,
05:34but it's just pushed a little bit further into the future.
05:37Yeah, I mean, I've always loved that genre in literature and in cinema. And I think it's
05:45about taking things that do very often happen in the world, but you don't necessarily see
05:49in Ireland or America, you know, just like The Handmaid's Tale or Children of Men. So
05:54yeah, I think it's great. It's kind of... it's a really good way, again, of reflecting society.
06:00Ellen, do you have a movie that inspired you as a kid?
06:03E.T. would be one for sure, and Jurassic Park.
06:05Mm-hmm.
06:06I was, like, utterly obsessed and scared. And then probably more in terms of being inspired,
06:14like, as a teenager, as movies like Rat Catcher and a lot of Canadian independent films, too,
06:21that are, like, less seen, like a movie called Last Night that Don McKellar directed, yeah.
06:28And did you have a favorite horror movie growing up?
06:32I couldn't really watch horror movies.
06:33Yeah.
06:34I'm bad. I mean, I saw the Romero films when I was a kid and loved them, but I saw...
06:40I mean, Jurassic Park isn't a horror film, but I was petrified of the dinosaurs, and particularly
06:44the wingy one.
06:45Oh, yeah.
06:46Oh, yeah.
06:47I had that poster over my bed as a kid, and I refused to take it down, but I didn't sleep
06:52for about three years with it.
06:54So, yeah, Jurassic Park.
06:58Yeah.
06:59You know, this movie talks a lot about kind of integrating people who've been traumatized
07:03back into society.
07:05Mm-hmm.
07:06You know, do you have an opinion on that?
07:08Like, how, where we go when our society has been through something that's incredibly divisive?
07:15How do we bring people back in?
07:17I mean, I know you're not supposed to solve the world's problems today, but do you have
07:22any thoughts on that?
07:23I wish we could.
07:24I mean, I think...
07:26I don't have a solution to anything, but I think that if there is any kind of message,
07:30it's that you can't let fear rule your lives or your politics.
07:34And you have to be welcoming and be human, which I think is something we're forgetting
07:41at the moment in America, in Europe, everywhere at the moment, is we're treating people like
07:47a contagion, and we're not treating them like humans anymore.
07:51And that's what's happening with asylum seekers in Europe, and refugees, and here with Build
07:57a Wall, and all that grotesque stuff.
08:00So yeah, I think it's just we have to start treating everyone like humans again, which
08:04we've forgotten.
08:06Mm-hmm.
08:07And if there was a movie that you would want to pair with your own, like a double feature,
08:13what would you suggest people see when they see The Cured?
08:17That's a really good question that I don't have an answer to.
08:20I don't know.
08:22I love Children of Men.
08:23I always have.
08:24And I think that, just because I love it.
08:29But yeah, I don't know.
08:31It's a good question.
08:32I think that you'd have to bring a whole box of tissues with you if you're going to
08:37watch both of your movie, Children of Men, at the same time.
08:41Yeah, pretty sad.
08:42Yeah.
08:43Maybe go out and have a sunny day after that.
08:45Maybe then they should double bill with something like Billy Wilder's The Apartment.
08:49Just a good comedy.
08:50Right.
08:51Just a good antidote.
08:52Like, oh, we're safe.
08:53We're safe.
08:54Yeah, yeah.
08:55Finding Nemo.
08:56Finding Nemo would be great.
08:57Yeah.
08:58Perfect.
08:59And Ellen, last question to you.
09:00You have a moment in this role where you get to kind of be a bit of an action star.
09:04I won't spoil it for anybody.
09:06But how did it feel to kind of be put in the position where you have to, like, get a little
09:11physical with the zombies?
09:13I really enjoyed it.
09:14I love playing physical roles.
09:16And this got to have a lot of that moment.
09:20So that, for me, was really enjoyable.
09:23And a lot of those sequences that David did were so fantastic and so really enjoyable to choreograph
09:30and film.
09:31Yeah.
09:32And you didn't have, like, you didn't use a stunt double once.
09:34You just went for everything.
09:35You were so kind of adrenaline hooked.
09:38It was great.
09:39Yeah.
09:40I mean, one thing I noticed about your character is so vulnerable, is put in such a vulnerable
09:45position of being, you know, just exposed to so many people who could be threatening
09:52or dangerous.
09:53And you're just like, I'm not sure what's going to happen, you know.
09:57So it's pretty great.
09:59Cool.
10:00Yeah.
10:01Well, thank you so much for being here.
10:02Thanks for having us.
10:03It's out on Friday, February 23rd.
Comments