Introduction
Elevation takes place in the post-apocalyptic Rocky Mountains, a single father and two women venture from the safety of their homes to face monstrous creatures to save the life of a young boy.
Synopsis
The world has changed. The only habitable place left for humanity is in the high mountains, above 8000 feet. Below 8000 feet dwell the creatures that killed 95% of the human population less than three years ago. To save the life of his young son, a father (Anthony Mackie) is forced to venture below “The Line” with a scientist (Morena Baccarin) he despises, but who just might hold the key to defeating the monsters, and a young woman (Maddie Hasson) determined to keep them both alive long enough to save the human race.
A Word From The Director
Imagine a world where 95% of the population has perished, but the remaining 5% live in serene, mountaintop communities above 8000 feet, untouched by the death and destruction below. These virtual Gardens of Eden offer everything a person could need: food, water, safety, and stunning natural beauty. The question that intrigued me was, could humanity truly thrive in such a world?
What would people become when all their physical needs are met but are isolated from the rest of the world? This film starts with that premise and then takes you on a gripping journey, where our characters must venture below The Line at 8000 feet which defines their lives. It’s in this descent that we confront a deeper question: Is the very technology and intelligence that helped us evolve and create great civilizations also driving us toward destruction?
Bringing this story to life, especially for a third time working with Anthony Mackie, alongside the incredible talents of Morena Baccarin and the rest of the cast, was both challenging and exhilarating. We shot in breathtaking yet demanding locations — from operating ski lifts in the Colorado Rockies to deep within an active mine, a mile underground. These settings aren’t just backdrops; they elevate the tension and stakes of the film, creating a truly immersive, theatrical experience. Our entire team was all-in, pushing boundaries to ensure that this movie not only entertains but also makes you question the future of humanity.
Meet Maddie Hasson
Maddie can currently be seen as a series regular in Netflix’s The Recruit from executive producer Doug Liman. Maddie was last seen in James Wan’s New Line Cinema horror film Malignant as well as starring in Tim Sutton’s Taurus opposite Machine Gun Kelly, Scoot McNairy, and Megan Fox.
Previously, she gave a memorable performance opposite Melissa Leo and Margaret Qualley in the Sony Classics film Novitiate, and she co-starred opposite Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen in the Sony Classics film I Saw The Light. On the television side, she most recently starred in Doug Liman’s critically acclaimed, genre-bending YouTube Originals action/thriller Impulse, which sits at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. She can also currently be seen starring in Marc Meyers’ We Summon the Darkness alongside Alexandra Daddario and Johnny Knoxville.
Maddie rose to fame as the lead of ABC Family’s Twisted, for which she garnered two Teen Choice Award nominations for Best Actress. Before starring on Twisted, she was a lead on Fox’s The Finder. Maddie’s other films include the indie-thriller A Light Beneath Their Feet, starring Taryn Manning, Madison Davenport, and Carter Jenkins, as well as the lead of the independent film More Than Enough, directed by Anne-Marie Hess.
Interview
Cinema Scholars’ own Glen Dower sat down with George Nolfi and Maddie Hasson to talk about their new post-apocalyptic thriller, Elevation. They discuss how their film differs from other films of the same genre, the rigors, and challenges of shooting on location, and the perfect Halloween costume!…among other topics.
(Edited for content and clarity)
Glen Dower:
Mr. Nolfi. How are you, Sir?
George Nolfi:
Hi, Glen. Happy Halloween.
Glen Dower:
Elevation…a really satisfying experience. I had a great time.
George Nolfi:
Oh, thank you!
Glen Dower:
We have a post-apocalyptic world with big beasties killing off humans. How did you go about breaking away from other movies with similar themes in the genre?
George Nolfi:
What interested me was the thematics of the movie about how the human brain can undo humanity at the same time as being the savior of humanity. I don’t want to go too far into that because I don’t want to spoil how the movie works. Also, just the notion that you’re only safe in one tiny place, these pinnacles of mountains in the Colorado Rockies allow a ‘Garden of Eden’ to bloom up there, right?
There’s no technology, there’s no cars, there’s no pollution. So I think that’s really quite different than A Quiet Place, you know, where they’re sort of living amongst the monsters. If they don’t go down below 8,000 feet, they’re safe forever. They can live up there forever. They have food, they have water, they have animals, you know. So it’s really about the choice that Anthony has to make to go down to save his son, despite the risks. And then the two women who accompany him, Marina, obviously have larger goals about what she thinks she can do for humanity. So yeah, I think it’s pretty different, but I’ll let the audience decide…
Glen Dower:
I agree for sure. And I’m so glad you mentioned the cinematography as the scenery was breathtaking. It could have been a silent movie and I would have been in awe. So at one point, I thought, ‘You know what, actually, just stay up there.’ Did you and your production team make a concerted effort to capture that environment?
George Nolfi:
Yeah, it was important to me to shoot the movie that way. So much of Hollywood is now just like, ‘Where’s the cheapest place to shoot it’, right? And so you can find mountains wherever, somewhere in Eastern Europe or whatever, and they might be 2,000-foot mountains, but we’ll just pretend they’re 8,000-foot and we’ll use CGI to put mountains in the background!
And that’s fine for certain kinds of movies. But if you can get in a real place and you can make something in a gritty, real way and deal with the fact that, hey, it might snow on us tomorrow and move the camera and the actors through spaces in ways that you can’t if, you know, you’re constantly putting visual effects in the background. So obviously the monsters are a visual effect, but aside from the monsters and, you know, certain safety things, almost everything is practical, you know, from the stunts to like shooting in that working mine where we, you know, we traverse probably a mile on foot through that mine, which is under a mile underneath a mountain, you know, things like that.
Nobody had shot an action scene on a ski lift. And the reason is because of liability like the ski lift operators are like, this is, you know, scary for us. There are also things like, is it going to snow? Are we repairing the things? But we really wanted to do it and we worked with a place to make it safe and do it. And I think it shows because, you know, find me another movie that has that in it. I can’t find it.
Glen Dower:
I’m glad you mentioned that scene because that’s one of my favorite set pieces. The ski lift was superb. And so many excellent pieces throughout. I was claustrophobic. I was sweating. My wife was asking me to tell her what was happening because she couldn’t look. So we really, really enjoyed it. So thank you very much for your time, Mr. Nolfi.
George Nolfi:
Thank you, Glen. I appreciate it. Thanks for talking about the movie.
Glen Dower:
And Miss Hasson, how are you, ma’am?
Maddie Hasson:
Hi Glen!
Glen Dower:
What can you tell me about your role in Elevation?
Maddie Hasson:
I play Katie. She is Will’s friend, we’ll say, and she wants a little bit more for her life than being stuck on a mountaintop.
Glen Dower:
For sure, she has gripes with her two main characters, and they go on this journey. It’s very much a three-hander. How far into the process did you feel, oh, this is Anthony Mackie. Oh, it’s Morena Baccarin. I’m maybe not going to make it out of this alive…
Maddie Hasson:
Oh, one of us has to die! I mean, yeah, it does make the most sense. They’re both very big, like Marvel actors. If one of us is going to die, it’s going to be a little old this gal. I’ll say I knew right away because I did read the script. But yeah, I love a death scene! So I was game.
Glen Dower:
Let’s talk about the Reapers. Obviously, you were informed by Mr. Nolfi what they would look like, sound like, and move like. I described them as rhino bug scorpions.
Maddie Hasson:
Oh, that’s a good one!
Glen Dower:
How were they described to you and how did that impact your reactions?
Maddie Hasson:
It changed a lot. And there were practical bits like there was a big monster head that we acted off of. There was like a little light at a certain point for one of their tentacles and the ends of their tentacles. But it changed. It changed so much. It’s not scary acting against a big monster head, it’s just not! So I tried to block it out.
Glen Dower:
As an actor, in the face of terror, like the awesome ski lift set piece, how do you get into that mind space of ‘I’m being chased by this really huge scary thing. It’s gonna kill me.’
Maddie Hasson:
I mean, how do I do that? I just think like…how would I feel if I was about to shit my pants?! You know, I then feel that tension in my body. And hopefully, it shows up on my old face! That’s how I do it. That’s pretty much it!
Glen Dower:
That is an acting masterclass right there!
Maddie Hasson:
HA!
Glen Dower:
“How do you act running from a terrifying animal? You pretend you gotta shit your pants.”
Maddie Hasson:
I hope you’re writing this down because that would be good advice!
Glen Dower:
All recorded. It’s gonna be on a poster and a t-shirt.
Maddie Hasson:
Yeah.
Glen Dower:
So it is Halloween at the time of recording What will be your costume of choice today?
Maddie Hasson:
Um, I… Well, nobody really understands my costume…I’m Benadryl. And I thought it was so clever. I got a Benadryl allergy t-shirt and I got like these wings and I glued Benadryl tablets on them in a tiara. And I was like, this is so cute. It’s very pink. And everyone was like, but why? And I don’t have a great explanation as to why. It was just when I was thinking of a costume, Benadryl was on my bedside table. And that’s how we go. That’s how we go.
Glen Dower:
And what’s wrong with that?
Maddie Hasson:
Nothing!
Glen Dower:
Miss Hasson, thank you so much for your time. I thought the movie was terribly satisfying. And I won’t get that image of you as Benadryl out of my mind.
Maddie Hasson:
Good!
