COBWEB: An Interview With The Director And Star Of The New Horror/Thriller

Cinema Scholars interviews the director and star of Cobweb, Samuel Bodin and Woody Norman. Cobweb will be in theaters on July 21.

Introduction

By their very nature horror films are dark, but none more so than scary movies with children as protagonists. It’s awful enough to imagine ourselves in terrible scenarios, but watching a kid endure any kind of torment is a different story entirely. From The Exorcist (1973) to It (2017), to The Black Phone (2021), the horror genre has always given equal opportunity to young and old alike. But the juxtaposition of innocence and terror strikes an especially sensitive chord. In Samuel Bodin’s directorial debut, Cobweb, the harrowing story of a young boy and his unnerving family nails this unique brand of childhood dread.

Peter lives a seemingly normal only-child life with his mom and dad. At night, however, the boy repeatedly wakes to mysterious thuds and other unexplained sounds. Though his parents chalk it up to an active imagination, Peter can’t deny the strange experiences he is having. Everything on the outside appears to be status quo, yet a closer look reveals that things might be a bit off. Are Peter’s overly doting parents actually overbearing? Why are they so dismissive when a concerned teacher comes to them with Peter’s terrifying artwork? And is their outdated and slightly dilapidated house hiding some sinister secret? Soon Peter will learn that the real truth is much more than his imagination. 

Cobweb is a captivating and painful journey into some of our worst childhood fears. Watching Peter endure the emotional rollercoaster of the story is just as horrific as the scares peppered throughout the film. While the film initially leans into psychological horror, later reveals a nod to more traditional themes. Bodin employs familiar tricks of the trade to really flesh out the spooky story. Rotating frames, creaky doors, and various views into dark spaces help accentuate the existential dread filling every scene. 

As Peter’s parents, Lizzy Caplan and Antony Starr are both exceedingly creepy. Even their tender moments are rimmed with a subtle unease that further pushes Peter’s unsettling confusion. Holding down the entire terrifying affair, Woody Norman turns in a powerful and heartbreaking performance. Appearing in nearly every scene of the film, Norman’s command of both his character and the ghastly tone of the film is essential to the story’s success. The depth and emotional agility of a performer so young is as riveting as it is terrifying.

Cinema Scholars recently had the opportunity to talk with Samuel Bodin and Woody Norman about their collaboration on the film. From ominous production design to working with the creepiest set parents ever, the pair discuss the ins and outs of making Cobweb.

Editor’s Note: This interview was conducted prior to SAG-AFTRA declaring a strike

Interview

Rebecca Elliott:

Hello! So nice for you guys to join me today to talk about your film, Cobweb.

Samuel Bodin:

Nice to meet you.

Woody Norman:

Thank you.

Rebecca Elliott:

Samuel, there is a lot of scary stuff in this story, but for a lot of directors, having a kid as the lead actor in every scene is even scarier. Talk about finding Woody and working with a kid in pretty much every frame of this thing.

Samuel Bodin: 

Yeah. To be honest, it was a challenge. It was my first feature film, it was my first experience with an American production company, an American studio. It was not the first time I worked with a kid in a horror environment. I did that on a TV show in France before in Marianne. Yes, it was the first time. And it was the beginning of COVID. It was a weird experience. And during the casting, we did all the casting with Zoom. And even the first rehearsal, we did that in Zoom with Woody and Lizzie, and Antony. So it was really a weird experience. 

And we met each other two weeks before shooting in the studio and everything. And then we rehearsed a lot. You have to ask Woody because it was my first project in English. I’m not clear today, but at the time it was worse. What was very impressive is how Woody understood me and what I wanted. So I moved a lot. I make a lot of mimes and a lot of sounds. 

And Woody was totally game and he’s a great actor in that way. He played everything in the present. In this situation. It was exactly where we needed to be shot by shot. When I’m working, it’s very shortlisted. So, I show Woody the ball and where we want to go and when we have to go and play the game on set a lot. It was a big game.

Rebecca Elliott:

Woody, you are pretty much carrying Cobweb in every scene with all the scary stuff. But maybe for you, appearing in everything, every scene would be daunting. How was it taking on such a big role in a horror film and with a director who’s getting used to English and directing his first American film? Can you talk about your experiences with this film?

Woody Norman:

I found it to be very challenging but in a good way. But working with Sam, it didn’t stray far away from working with a director who’d been doing it for 20 years. I think having a background of doing French film and TV, and then his first feature film is in English. It was really cool and ended up being really natural. But there was a time where- I wasn’t in this scene. But after he went, “Cut,” he started saying, “Oh, that was terrible.” That was this, that was that. Without knowing, terrible was like…he forgot terrible was bad. And he was trying to say, that was really good.

Samuel Bodin:

Yeah, we say that in France. You know, when something is very scary.

Rebecca Elliott:

Right! Oh, it’s terrible. Yeah, that’s funny. A little lost in translation there. That’s great. Samuel, this film sort of has I don’t want to get into spoilers, but you kind of do a double whammy of a psychological horror film, but then also veer into more conventional horror themes, too. Can you talk about doubling down on your tropes like that and where you had to maybe dial back some? 

Samuel Bodin:

Yeah, I don’t know. My first reflex was to create a little world that’s not totally reality. In my head. I said, “Oh, if we create our little world like the house is in a bubble with snow, it’s not grounded. It’s like a weird joke around the campfire.” If we create that, you can bring the audience into psychological terror to question, who is the monster. And because it’s very playful and we are not trying to make it totally real, everything is possible. 

But the audience has to really go in one direction to love the fact that it turns. I use all my energy to create that, and the script has all those fantastic tools in it. So I really go 100% in that direction to be able to u-turn. And it was all about our little world where our stories are told. That was my way to take it.

Rebecca Elliott:

Woody, you get two of the creepiest parents in film history in Cobweb with Lizzie Kaplan and Antony Starr. Can you talk about working with them as your parents? And did they ever freak you out because they’re so good at being freaky?

Woody Norman: 

Yeah, working with them was really cool because obviously, they’ve both been in the industry for quite a while. And I obviously haven’t. So it was kind of like just a lesson in acting as well as a really fun experience. And they definitely did creep me out a few times. Like, there’s a scene where I still think about just seeing Lizzie to this day. It was really scary.

Rebecca Elliott:

Samuel, you mentioned how you were creating your vibe of psychological horror and then, of course, veering into more straightforward horror themes. But also you incorporate a lot of amazing traditional hallmarks, like the spiraling camera, creaky doors, and peering into dark abysses. Can you talk about leaning into the horror elements to create that overall sense of dread?

Samuel Bodin: 

Yeah, it’s like scary stories have their own language. There is a language that you have to, okay, I have to speak that language And I have to be generous with it and playful with it. You have to really embrace that. And in another way, the other thing to do is to go slow. You have to find that rhythm. 

And at the moment, you say, “Okay, the movie is here. That’s the rhythm of the movie. The language of it.” I shot list everything. So, I really had all of that in my head. And we go slow to do it like sitting at a campfire, and with each shot, you have to say, “Okay, now we go slow.” And you have to do that for each moment of the movie. It’s the same for the production design. If you don’t want reality, you have to twist reality everywhere. In the color, in the sound. The sound is very important.

We make the creaking, maybe a little bit in the movie. But it’s the voice of all movies. It’s something you want to hear. And you have to play with all of that. And because Woody is in every shot, we have to move around him, move with him, move down, and all of this kind of thing. It’s like a kind of spiral. Yeah, it’s a language. I love to learn to talk that language because it’s so cinematographic in a way you never learn everything. You want to experience it, test it, and see what happens.

Rebecca Elliott: 

Absolutely. And Woody, for you, it’s a pretty intense character and story here. Are you able to turn it off and on? How do you maintain that level of intensity throughout a project? Especially as a kid.

Woody Norman:

Well, I don’t like to prepare for a scene. My preparation is to learn the lines. That’s it. I don’t like to think about what my character would do because while you’re being scared for your life, you wouldn’t be thinking about it, right? While you’re having the happiest moment in your life, you wouldn’t think about, “Okay, what will I be thinking about next?” You’ll just think about it. So I think it’s best for me to just do that. And just to try and find the character in there.

Rebecca Elliott:

Yeah. Try to keep that spontaneity and not be waiting for the next scare, basically. Samuel, you mentioned briefly in your last answer about the production design and how much that is a part of the storytelling and the whole vibe. Can you talk about working with your production designer and how you guys came to the design of this ultimate horror house? Even the wallpaper is creepy and seems very intentional. Can you talk about some of those design choices?

Samuel Bodin: 

To be honest, I think we reviewed 50 wallpapers to choose that one. It was a big job because we knew that we had to shoot that wallpaper all throughout the movie. Alan Gilmore is our production designer. I am French and Halloween is not the same in my head as American people. For me, it’s really related to movies and everything on phantasm. Suddenly it’s like, oh, I have my Halloween fairy tale to tell. And I was so happy with that, but it’s not grounded in my head. 

And so I said to Alan, “We have to build our little house. The pumpkin patch has to be big with a real tree. And we have to think that not as reality, but as our own world where we will tell our little scary story.” So we design everything and twist it a little bit each time. The color is a little bit too high, too saturated. All the stairs are too big because we wanted to have that feeling. When you are a kid, things are bigger. So we built that a little bit too big. 

And Peter’s bedroom is empty. There is an empty wall and we find all this kind of weird stuff. And it’s scary when you do that because the more you go away from reality, the more difficult it is to tell a story. So it was really a complicated process to say, “Okay, we are too far, we have to come back.” But always with the idea of not creating reality. To just be a little bit next to that. Like our theory testing, I think the production design brings us a lot on that. What you said about being psychological and then monster themes, it helps to buy that it’s okay.

Rebecca Elliott: 

Well, I have to wrap this up, but I’m just curious. Woody, are you interested in doing more horror? 

Woody Norman: 

I’m looking for some more horror. I’ve had a two-year break from it. The last horror film I did was in 2021, and I’m ready for another one.

Rebecca Elliott: 

And Samuel, how about you? Are you ready to take on some more horror? Is this your wheelhouse or are you ready to branch out and work in a different genre?

Samuel Bodin: 

I love different genres because, before Cobweb, I did a lot of comedy and adventure. But I like scary stories. I like scary stories because, in scary stories, you can talk about very serious matters. Very bad parenting, disease, loss. And because it’s a scary story, it’s not melodramatic. You have a place where you can tell those stories. And when you’re scared, you’re a kid again. You’re eleven years old again. It’s like in comedy, you can really understand things. And I love that muscle and I have so much to learn, so I want to do it again. Absolutely.

Rebecca Elliott: 

Excellent. Well, thank you so much for chatting with me today, you guys. I really appreciate it. Good luck with everything.

Samuel Bodin: 

Thank you.

Woody Norman:

Thanks. Take care.

Cobweb will be in theaters on July 21.

Read more Cinema Scholars interviews here!

THE ANGRY BLACK GIRL AND HER MONSTER: An Interview With Star Denzel Whitaker

THE WRATH OF BECKY: An Interview With The Directors And Star Lulu Wilson

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