‘Come to Daddy’ Director Ant Timpson on Making One of the Year’s Most Gonzo Horror Movies [Interview] – /FILM

Life doesnt include an instruction manual when it comes to handling grief. We all process loss and cope in our own ways. For me? Ive taken to expression through written words, most recently about how The Farewell helped me say goodbye to a loved one. For the prolific indie producer Ant Timpson? He conceptualized and directed a violent, offbeat, absolutely gonzo in memoriam starring Elijah Wood titled Come To Daddy.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Mr. Timpson last year at Fantastic Fest, having viewed Come To Daddy at its Tribeca premiere (the first of 25 festival appearances). Visions of criminal brutality and Woods hipster haircut were still vivid months later, if thats any indication of the films more memorable attributes. We chatted about an array of topics, from hopping into the directors chair to actorMichael Smileys self-provided fake teeth. Youd never assume such an off-kilter narrative to emerge from such a personal place, but then again, what did you expect from the man who backed such films as Deathgasm and The Greasy Strangler?

Youve produced multiple indie genre titles and, sure, Come To Daddy is technically your filmmaking debut, but it doesnt feel like it. Im wondering and curious, did you feel like a first-timer when filming?

Absolutely. You can be associated with other films, but there is a huge distance even though its nice when people say, Oh, your film, Housebound, and your film, Turbo Kid. Its not your film. Its someone elses passion and dream. Their blood, sweat, and tears, even though you also put a lot of that in. Its disingenuous to claim that its your film and its not.

[Come To Daddy] feels like my first. It feels like me. It feels like exactly the type of shit that I should make. Initially, in the dark, early, scary days before connecting with everyone, I was like, Oh my god, Im going to make a piece of shit thats going to be unwatchable. Will my friends even bend the rules to program it at one festival? You go through those dreary hours of self-belief can I pull it off?

Then, as I got closer and closer, I felt like I needed to go back to being that guy who used to go out and have fun making shit. It started forming and becoming a very real thing. Once its real, you cant stop it. The train has left.

So as Ant Timpson the director, is there anything that took you by surprise? Maybe something that, as a producer, youre watching filmmakers achieve, but stepping into the role of a filmmaker gives a whole different perspective?

Knowing if youre getting the right performance and whether its all going to come together at the end because the entire process is so fragmented. You dont have that panic as a producer. Youre stepping back and relying on everyone to execute what they need to do. You dont have that instantaneous connection of, like, Maybe Im not getting it, or anything thats probably going through the directors head, not yours [as a producer]. [Directors] hide everything from you because I hid things. I hid the weird shit from everyone as well. You never understand whats truly going on in the head of the director. They can put on a pretty good facade.

A poker face?

Exactly. Youre hoping like hell everything will piece together. Thats why great directors can still make misfires because its like alchemy half the time. You cant control every single element but theres a lot of magic that happens throughout the entire process, especially in post where you get to readdress everything. I felt confident in post that I had the ability to correct things that I maybe had fucked up, I could actually

Put Humpty Dumpty back together again, in a way?

Yeah, and shape. I felt like I had a second chance, so that helped a lot of the time. You get overwhelmed and you realize, take a breath. Its moment by moment. Its keeping your eye on the bigger picture because its all out of sequence and fragmented. Make sure things are touching base and thats where you have a lot of luck with talented performers like Elijah Wood, who understand exactly where they need to be in every single sequence and frame that youre shooting. That ability is lifesaving for first-timers, greenhorns.

I can imagine because the performances are so finely tuned. Sticking with that thought, we hear a lot of quick dialogue and speedy wit, and Im wondering if that was all on the page or was there improv on set?

Michael Smiley brought a lot of improv for sure. His background is stand-up, so he had a lot of fun. In the first minute I met him, he pulled out the false teeth that he brought with him, and was like, Okay, this is going to be awesome. Michael was fully committed to playing around and came up with lots of stuff he blurted that stayed in the film. Then the ADR, theres a lot of off-camera dialogue he did that is really funny to me. Wed spend an hour doing a lot of wackiness and he just had fun, man. Hes got such a playful sense of humor.

I love everything he does.

The idea of [Michael Smileys character] Jethro is a guy whos obsessed with film villains and so hes very self-aware that he is playing a villain. Its not a meta take on it, but as much as the audience is aware that hes a little bit theatrical, hes very much in that moment and realizing that he is embodying that bigger than life villain. It was just a really cool, fun experience to work with an actor like that.

Do you have a favorite Michael Smiley addition? One instance you remember where you were like, Oh, wait, this has to stay in?

That whole song he does in the car is off the cuff.

Of course it is.

If you watch it, its just lucky that the framing cut off his lip so you dont actually see the sync doesnt match up at all. It worked out really beautifully. Thats completely him, in addition to heaps of one-liners he throws in there on the spot.

I wish I could watch Michael Smiley perform from behind the camera, see what content makes it and what doesnt, because I would love to witness him do just that.

The outtakes of Michael trying to nail one single line are hysterical because theres one where its alliteration. Like, You sad sackfucking sad sack situation or something. He couldnt spit it out. He was getting more frustrated and that was the scene where you [the viewer] enter when he goes berserk. It really worked because he was so frustrated by the scene before that. The energy in the room was really great and, yeah, it was really entertaining watching him lose his mind.

Come To Daddy is a personal project for you, which youve opened up about in other interviews where it started and how the film came about. Is there ever fear as a filmmaker that youre creating something too personal, like, Im putting my heart into this and I really hope its received the same way.

Oh, I would have called that all back if I felt like the film was a bit of a turd. [Laughs] I would not have let it be my dads legacy of, You totally influenced this piece of shit. I dont think I started realizing that I was quite comfortable in getting that out there until I felt like, Yeah, I really am happy with [Come To Daddy]. I felt like he would really dig the film, like he would be totally laughing his ass off at all this stuff. It was a big step to actually do that and as a final, cathartic move, to talk about the whole origin of it all and be honest. I had no interest in making any other sort of normal, commercial film. I feel like even though its an absurd comedy with really extreme moments, all that personal stuff still works and hopefully maybe it does connect with some people. Im happy if it doesnt and, if it does, thats even better.

Did you have to think hard about the cultural specifics, too? As a New Zealander, the corpse laying on the bed being tradition and details like that, its something I didnt even know was common practice.

Well, its not common at all.

Oh, really? In conversation after my screening, someone mentioned it was commonplace. They were like, No, no, its a natural thing. They leave the body and let people grieve. I was like, Wait, what?

For Europeans, no, this is completely not normal at all, but for the indigenous, like the Maori of New Zealand, it happens for sure. They do Tangis and long wakes, so thats a natural thing. It was suggested by my fathers partner to do it, and then she skedaddled and left us kids with the corpse but yeah, it did not feel natural at fucking all. It felt totally bizarre and wackadoodle. Yet, because of it, its become this really crazy experience. [My father would] love the absurdity of the entire thing, that Im talking about him and his death and that its become this bizarre movie as well.

Its perfect alongside your entire professional catalog. Not a bad thing, obviously. Come To Daddy fits right into place with all the movies youve been producing. It seems so obvious, down to Elijahs casting. When you were writing the film, was Elijah always in your mind to lead?

Well, that was the dream. He wasnt from day one in the script, but as we were getting close to polishing the final draft, I realized it would be amazing if we could snag Elijah. I didnt think he would accept because he must get asked by friends all the time like, Can you do this? Can you do that? It was really producer Mette-Marie Kongsved, sheI cant remember if I sent [the script] to Elijah or if she sent it. I cant remember. No! I sent it to him because I got texts back from him straight away! Yeah, I fucking love it. Then they both rang back and said, Were going to do it. I was like, Okay, its all on. Then its like, Shit. Its a real thing now.

Now this has to happen.

Now that Elijahs in it, then it might actually happen. Up until that point, it was just, Oh, yeah. Maybe. Ive been down that path on other peoples projects for a long time and I know how that goes, but once he signed on, it was like, Shit. Okay.

Can you speak to what Elijah brings as an actor? As you stated, that was the dream, getting Elijah. What immediately makes you think he had to play this role? What was the drawing factor?

Well, I feel like its weird because [Elijahs] done three films now where hes been this isolated character who has to carry the entire story, but they also, Open Windows and Grand Piano, are similar structures in terms of him carrying the film. I felt like his emotional range in Come To Daddy was a challenge because, first of all, in those other films, hes a likable guy. Hes playing a different sort of Elijah and they all have their quirks, but its very much a different type of character that I feel like he pulls off really, really well. [In Come To Daddy] he hones douchery to a beautiful, fine note thats understandable because beneath perceptions is a real human quality that grounds it all. Theres inherent likability that he brings with him. Its who he is.

We wanted to put on a bit of puffery around him, so it was not alienating to the audience but I didnt want them to completely connect with the dude from the word Go. Heres an alien in a foreign land and you want to see this guy desperately out of his depth and feeling that awkwardness straight away and not being able to relate to him.

Douchery is the best word to use. He flaunts that pretentious unease so well.

Yeah, especially in that one sequence where hes trying to really impress his dad. You can feel the pathetic longing to do so and thats when I felt, Okay, weve got something here. Its definitely like hes an alien.

Elijahs intuition of how everything needs to be throughout [Come To Daddy] holds it together and I was really lucky. Plus, I also like the guy. I like hanging out with him and hes a friend, so that helps a lot if you have that sort of really easygoing connection. Theres no one more pro and easy on a set than Elijah. Theres nothing Hollywood about that dude. He is bootstrapping it and guerrilla style, whatevers needed, throws himself in it 100%. Yeah, superhuman.

Thats pretty cool. He exudes that energy anyway, so it makes sense.

Yeah, Ive never heard one story about that guy unless its just like the best human on earth. Everyone fucking loves working with him.

Lets revisit your producer/director dual lives. Did you ever feel, while you were directing, that your producer brain was getting in the way or whatnot?

Hell yeah. What am I going to tell Stephen McHattie about acting? Hes been doing it for 60 years or whatever. If anything, I had an idea of what I needed to get but how to communicate with actors was all new to me. Ive worked with people before, but these are people who are the most experienced on the set, right? So its how to always keep within my focal range and not be distracted by everything else going on in the mechanics of what my producer brain would be trying to comprehend at the same time. To look in the frame of what do I need to get in this sequence and being able to communicate really simplistically. That was what it came down. Its all about tonal levels and making sure we werent getting too lost in the narrative. It was so lean and tight that it was kind of just make the days because everyone else is performing at their A game.

You could just step back and go, Just do it.

Yeah, just dont get in the way. Most of the time it was like, Capture what you need. I feel like I got more confident as it went on, but it sounds like its the same for any director their first day. Its a mess. Its a madhouse, and it takes a while for all sets to get up to speed. Thats why you definitely dont want to start off with anything too complicated on the opening shot.

Yeah, right. Lets start with the hardest thing.

Its everyones gain. You take time to warm up and then once its rhythms are going really well, then you can start experimenting a little bit and have more fun.

Im happy you mentioned the tone because youre going to push a lot of boundaries here. Youre definitely going to push some audiences in all the best ways. Was there any time on set a scene felt too much that didnt make the final cut because you had to reassess?

We took out stuff from the script beforehand that was too much, so we didnt waste any time shooting scenes that I felt were going to polarize too vastly. When youre making a film like this, youre always going to risk losing people because they dont want it to go into extremes. They want that grounded thriller and whatever supernatural film thats going to stick to those lanes. It was never going to be that type of film, so that risk was worth taking.

I didnt want moments of extreme violence to alienate and become mean-spirited. Theres hopefully a wicked sense of childhood glee about the violence and that its kind of like Looney Tunes. Not to use that cartoon analogy, but its generally the humor there, the gallows humor, keeps it down a little bit and doesnt relish too much. Every moment of violence, theres humor attached so that was part of the plan throughout the whole thing but there was a moment where I wanted the audience to be laughing at something that suddenly made them implicit and felt like maybe you shouldnt be laughing at this point. When Elijahs character goes through a transformative moment through the violence. I wanted that to be full-on. The analogy was, when you see someone run into a sliding glass door and laugh, then they turn around and theyre bleeding, but you still laugh because it is still funny. I know that not everyone does that. Some people might be shocked. That was the balance we were running, which is a high-wire act so you can lose people really easily.

It was fun, though. We just wanted the violence to be different. Shit that I hadnt seen before and wouldnt get bored with. I just feel like you know all the mechanics and beats of most cinematic violence, so it was like, Lets try and do some unusual stuff.

So then, really quickly, two last questions. Number one, any Deathgasm sequel updates here?

[Deathgasm writer/director Jason Lei Howden] and I, weve been discussing stuff and hes super keen. Hes got it all ready to roll, so its really just if the money comes together. I dont know if Im going to be involved, but hed reached out and maybe I will be.

Second, is the American Housebound remake that was previously teased still a thing?

Yeah, nothings moved forward to that. I talked to [Luke Sharpe], the producer, ages ago and havent heard more. There was something bubbling away, but it feels kind of pointless at this stage. Whether its going to happen or not.

I agree with you because its an English language film. Its like why do we need to remake this again in the US when Housebound already exists and rules hard?

Hey, its more money for those dudes if it happens.

For them, I hope they get it.

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'Come to Daddy' Director Ant Timpson on Making One of the Year's Most Gonzo Horror Movies [Interview] - /FILM