Interview

Interview: Michael Bisping on proving himself as a leading man in Atlas King; “I feel like this script was written for me.”

Michael Bisping knows a thing or two about taking a hit. But carrying an action film on his shoulders? That presented the former UFC champion with an entirely different kind of pressure. In Atlas King, Bisping steps into the title role as a former fighter drawn back into a world he thought he had escaped….

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Interview: David Robert Mitchell on The End of Oak Street, suburban unease and the childhood memories behind his dinosaur epic

There’s something inherently unsettling about the suburbs in the films of David Robert Mitchell. Familiar streets, quiet houses and seemingly ordinary neighbourhoods have a way of suggesting that something strange might be lurking just beyond the frame. With The End of Oak Street, the filmmaker behind It Follows and Under the Silver Lake takes that…

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Interview: Director Kat Good on bringing CoComelon: The Movie to the big screen; “Remember the joy in the journey.”

For countless families around the world, CoComelon is already an instantly recognisable part of childhood. Now, director Kat Good is taking JJ and his friends somewhere they’ve never been before: the big screen. Marking Good’s feature directorial debut, CoComelon: The Movie expands the preschool phenomenon into a colourful musical adventure that follows JJ (Connor Esterson)…

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Interview: Chloe Van Landschoot on embracing the grotesque for Son of Sara; “Let’s make people feel something.”

Pregnancy has long been fertile ground for horror cinema, but Son of Sara transforms familiar fears into something far more intimate. As Sara, a woman whose increasingly disturbing cravings coincide with the return of her estranged boyfriend and the terrifying possibility that something sinister is growing inside her, Chloe Van Landschoot delivers a performance that…

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Interview: Rebecca De Mornay on heist thriller The Gentleman Thief and finding the mystery inside her character

Few actors have built a career as fascinatingly varied as Rebecca De Mornay. For many, she’ll forever be synonymous with Risky Business or the unforgettable menace of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, but her filmography reveals an artist who’s consistently gravitated toward women of intelligence, mystery and quiet strength, whether in prestige dramas, thrillers…

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Interview: Lin-Manuel Miranda on the live-action iteration of Moana and that its greatest legacy isn’t the music – it’s who gets to tell the story

Ten years after audiences first sailed beyond the reef with Moana, Lin-Manuel Miranda has returned to one of the defining works of his career – not because the songs needed rewriting, but because the story deserved to be experienced in an entirely new way. The Pulitzer Prize, Tony, Emmy and Grammy-winning songwriter, who penned the…

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Interview: Evil Dead Burn stars Souheila Yacoub, Hunter Doohan and Luciane Buchanan on grief, gore and surviving hell

For more than four decades, the Evil Dead franchise has revelled in pushing the boundaries of horror, blending relentless gore, pitch-black humour and unforgettable Deadite mayhem. But with Evil Dead Burn, director Sébastien Vaniček adds another layer to the carnage, grounding its blood-soaked terror in the raw emotions of a family already splintered by grief…

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Interview: Annette Bening and Timothy Olyphant on the power of contradiction and the psychology of family in Lucky

There are plenty of television series about criminals. Far fewer are interested in the contradictions that make them human. On paper, Lucky has all the ingredients of a high-stakes thriller. Based on Marissa Stapley’s bestselling novel, the Apple TV+ series follows Lucky (Anya Taylor-Joy), a gifted con artist forced back into the criminal world she…

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Interview: Producer Jeff Purser on why authentic stories will always find their audience; “I think audiences have always rewarded honesty.”

For more than two decades, Australian producer, writer and director Jeff Purser has worked across both commercial hits and critically acclaimed cinema, helping bring stories as varied as Fat Pizza and Cedar Boys to the screen. With a career spanning film, television and streaming, Purser has seen the industry evolve through changing technologies, audience habits…

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Interview: Jeff Bridges and Bobby Moynihan on Minions & Monsters and the beautiful chaos of making movie magic

For audiences expecting little more than Minions-fuelled chaos, Minions & Monsters has a delightful surprise waiting. Beneath the slapstick, sight gags and monster-sized mayhem lies an unexpectedly heartfelt tribute to the magic of cinema itself. Set during Hollywood’s seismic transition from silent films to talkies, Illumination’s latest adventure isn’t simply about the Minions accidentally conquering…

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Interview: Jesse Eisenberg and Zoey Deutch on Minions & Monsters and falling in love with cinema all over again

On paper, Minions & Monsters sounds exactly as delightfully ridiculous as its title suggests: Minions accidentally conquer Hollywood, unleash monsters upon the world and somehow have to save it all over again. What our Peter Gray wasn’t expecting was a surprisingly heartfelt love letter to the movies themselves. Set against Hollywood’s transition from silent films…

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Interview: Colin Farrell on pushing John Sugar beyond observation in Sugar Season 2

When Apple TV+’s Sugar premiered last year, much of the conversation centred on its audacious mid-season twist. The neo-noir detective drama, starring Colin Farrell as private investigator John Sugar, revealed that its seemingly hard-boiled detective was, in fact, an alien observer living among humanity. But according to Farrell, that revelation was never the true heart…

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Interview: Brian Cox on his directorial debut Glenrothan and the great exports of Scotland; “(Our) sense of identity runs very deep.”

For a film centred on whisky, Glenrothan is ultimately far more interested in what people inherit than what they produce. Set against the striking backdrop of the Scottish Highlands, Brian Cox‘s directorial debut follows two estranged brothers forced to confront decades of resentment, family history and the pull of a homeland neither can truly escape….

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Interview: Steve Toussaint on the latest season of House of the Dragon and reflecting on the cost of his character’s ambition

For all its dragons, battles and political intrigue, House of the Dragon has always been fascinated by something far more human: the gap between achievement and fulfilment. No character embodies that tension more than Corlys Velaryon. By the time audiences meet him, he has already accomplished what most people in Westeros could only dream of….

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Interview: Adrian Chiarella on his queer horror film Leviticus, the weaponisation of scripture, and Australia’s unique visual genre identity

Horror has long been a genre built around fear, but in Adrian Chiarella‘s debut feature Leviticus, terror is rooted in something far more intimate: desire itself. Fresh from a breakout Sundance premiere that sparked a fierce bidding war before being snapped up by NEON, the latest film from Causeway Films (Talk to Me, Bring Her…

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Interview: Jake Ryan on playing a reluctant man of violence in Australian actioner Badland Rising

In Blair Moore’s Badland Rising, Jake Ryan isn’t playing the kind of action hero who charges headfirst into danger. His character is a man running from it. A former soldier turned construction worker, Ryan’s Dave dreams of nothing more than returning to his wife, son and the quiet life they’ve built together. But when a…

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Interview: Colony director Yeon Sang-ho on the evolution of the zombie movie and why his latest monster creations may be more human than we expect

Few filmmakers have done more to redefine the zombie genre than Yeon Sang-ho. Nearly a decade after Train to Busan transformed a familiar horror concept into a razor-sharp reflection of modern society, the South Korean filmmaker returns to the infected with Colony, an ambitious new thriller that asks a far more unsettling question: what if…

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Interview: Lilian T. Mehrel on “the inside joke” of being human with Honeyjoon and the process of transforming grief into dark comedy

Grief is rarely a straight line, and neither is Honeyjoon. Equal parts heartfelt, hilarious and unexpectedly romantic, the film follows June and her Persian-British mother, Lela, as they journey to the breathtaking Azores Islands to mark the anniversary of a devastating loss. What begins as an act of remembrance soon becomes something far messier, funnier…

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Interview: Nina Dobrev, writer Sarah Adina and director Kaily Morgan Smith on transforming trauma into comedy for General Admission

Heartbreak is universal. So too is the tendency to tell ourselves we’re ready to move on when we’re anything but. In General Admission, writer Sarah Adina channels one of the most vulnerable chapters of her own life into a sharply observed comedy about a woman who attends a support group hoping to heal, only to…

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Interview: Director Simon McQuoid on fan expectations, fatalities, and finding the soul of Mortal Kombat II

As Earthrealm prepares for its most brutal battle yet in Mortal Kombat II, director Simon McQuoid returns with a sequel determined to go bigger, bloodier and far more ambitious than its predecessor. Bringing the long-awaited tournament to the screen, the film introduces Karl Urban’s swaggering Johnny Cage into a sprawling war against Shao Kahn, while…

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Interview: Karl Urban, Jessica McNamee and Josh Lawson on Mortal Kombat II, action icons, complexity and escapist cinema

In Mortal Kombat II, Earthrealm’s champions return for a bloodier, louder and far more chaotic showdown against the forces of Shao Kahn – this time with Karl Urban’s swaggering Johnny Cage entering the arena. Leaning fully into the outrageous spirit of the iconic video game franchise, the sequel embraces brutal fatalities, self-aware humour and the…

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Interview: Mark Kassen on his paranoid, political thriller PH-1; “The film is less about what’s revealed and more about what’s being explored.”

Set almost entirely within the confines of a luxury penthouse, PH-1 unfolds over one harrowing night as rising politician Payton Burnham watches his carefully constructed public image disintegrate in real time. Held hostage by an unseen force, he’s trapped not just physically, but within a media ecosystem that thrives on speculation, spin, and viral outrage….

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Interview: Kevin Interdonato on building tension, capturing emotion within violence, and remembering Patrick Muldoon through Dirty Hands

Dirty Hands is a bruising, tightly contained crime thriller that turns a botched drug deal into something far more emotionally volatile. On paper, the story is simple: the Denton brothers, Danny and Richie, have one night to survive after everything goes wrong. But writer-director-star Kevin Interdonato is less interested in the mechanics of survival than…

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Interview: Director John Asher, and stars Emmanuelle Chriqui and Hayes MacArthur on their emotional collaboration A Love Like This

There’s something inherently voyeuristic about A Love Like This – a film that invites us to peer through the cracks of a relationship that perhaps isn’t meant to be seen. Set over one sun-drenched but emotionally volatile weekend in Malibu, the film follows Paul and Leah as they attempt to exist, however fleetingly, as a…

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Interview: Miley Tunnecliffe on weaving addiction and grief into her supernatural horror film Proclivitas

There’s a particular kind of horror film that doesn’t just aim to scare you – it lingers, quietly burrowing under your skin by tapping into something far more recognisable than any monster. That’s exactly what Proclivitas achieves, weaving together grief, addiction, and memory into something as emotionally raw as it is unnerving. At its centre…

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Interview: Will Arnett and Laura Dern on the quiet intimacy of Is This Thing On?

In Is This Thing On?, intimacy isn’t played for grand gestures or easy resolutions. It’s found in the quiet, uncomfortable spaces where love begins to shift shape. Directed by Bradley Cooper, the film observes Alex and Tess Novak as their marriage gently fractures, following two people forced to confront who they are beyond the roles…

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Interview: Directors Jack Manning Bancroft and Tyson Yunkaporta on their First Nations animated film Imagine

Australian systems change-makers and Indigenous storytellers Jack Manning Bancroft and Tyson Yunkaporta are inviting audiences to hit reset with Imagine, a bold, genre-defying animated feature landing in cinemas for special event screenings this January 26th across Australia. Co-created through the pandemic in an open, live Google Doc collaboration that brought together more than 400 contributors…

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Interview: Copycat writer Samantha Cable on crafting emotionally impactful, cat-centric interactive storytelling

We love adorable cats. We love compelling video games. And we especially love when the two collide in a mature, story-rich experience that tugs at the heartstrings and reminds us just how deeply our feline friends love us (with spellbinding emotional results). Developed with support from Screen Australia, Copycat is the debut title of developer…

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Interview: James Vincent McMorrow soulfully reflects on rediscovering his debut album, battling industry pressures, and reclaiming the stage ahead of his Australian tour

It’s been 15 years since Early in the Morning slipped quietly into the world – a raw, soul-spun debut that would go on to soundtrack thousands of lives, break open hearts, and launch James Vincent McMorrow into a space he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to occupy: the spotlight. Now, after years of moving forward,…

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Interview: Mid-Century Modern creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick on evolutionary comedy and ensemble casting

After changing the way network television viewed queer comedy with their revolutionary sitcom Will & Grace, creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick are set to alter the landscape of the streaming space with Mid-Century Modern, a classic multi-cam comedy series about old friends, new roommates and chosen family. Executive produced by Ryan Murphy, directed by…

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