Writer/Director Camille Griffin Talks SILENT NIGHT With Cinema Scholars

Cinema Scholars recently interviewed Silent Night writer/director Camille Griffin about her new horror/dramedy starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Goode, in theaters and AMC+ on December 3.

Introduction

Pandemic horror has been around since long before anyone heard of Covid-19. The idea of an uncontrolled scourge decimating humans has fueled nightmares for centuries. In cinema, these kinds of doomsday scenarios vary wildly. From stories of standard infectious diseases to zombie plagues and even otherworldly infestations, the film world is packed with pestilence aplenty.

So now that mankind has endured an actual plague for nearly two years, it stands to reason that stories like these will be viewed under a completely different lens. In a world where people have been forced to question their health, well-being, and mortality, films about collective doom are sure to land a bit differently.

Premise

Writer/director Camille Griffin’s new pitch-black dramedy Silent Night might just be the first pandemic era film to brutally unpack some of the uncomfortable truths of the past couple of years. Disguised as a feel-good Christmas movie at the onset, Griffin scratches the proverbial record near the end of the first act, revealing that the holiday revelers are actually gathering for their communal demise.

It seems that some sort of toxic gas is overtaking the world, and people are grappling with the difficult decision to spare themselves from the ghastly results of the noxious fumes. With this grim inevitability in place, a tight-knit group of friends and family gather at a beloved country home to celebrate while they still can.

Discussion

Where standard tales of affliction might feature visual effects and gore, the situational horror of Silent Night unnerves by subtlety skewering everything from the class structure and family drama to even trickier subjects like compliance and personal choice. While an existential threat looming in the distance is scary enough, sometimes facing the harsh realities within your own tribe is the most terrifying.

For a more detailed look at the wincingly dark film, check out the Cinema Scholars’ review for Silent Night here.

Cinema Scholars had the great opportunity recently to chat with Silent Night writer/director Camille Griffin about dealing with post-pandemic commentary on a pre-covid concept, how her original draft with a virus was “unbelievable”, and what it’s like to direct your own kids.

Interview

Rebecca Elliott:
Hi Camille!

Camille Griffin:
Nice to meet you.

Elliott:
How are you today? It’s very nice to meet you, too. 

Griffin:
Are you on a school run or something?

Elliott:
No, but my car happens to be one of the quietest places in my world. I’m sure you understand.

Griffin:
Have you got lots of noisy people in your house?

Elliott:
I do indeed. Yes. Yes.

Griffin:
I get that.

Elliott:
Yeah. Between my son, and my dog, and my husband, this is the safest place.

Griffin:
I get it. I’m going to sit in the car, then no one’s allowed to interrupt. Good for you. Okay.

Elliott:
It’s true! Well, I’m so thrilled to talk to you about Silent Night.

Griffin:
Thank you.

Elliott:
I was very fortunate to see your film, as the closing night film at Fantastic Fest here in Austin, Texas. And so, I got to see it big.

Griffin:
Fantastic!

Elliott:
It was a wonderful screening. It was really great.

Griffin:
I wish I’d gone. I don’t know if we were invited?

Elliott:
I’m not sure-

Griffin:
I don’t think anyone invited us to… Yeah, I would’ve gone. I would’ve been there, but that’s amazing to these festivals because they’re helping us.

Elliott:
Absolutely. It’s a pretty big genre festival, now. And, of course, at that time in late September, things were reaching fever pitch again with the pandemic in Texas, which may have had a lot to do with the reasons you guys weren’t able to attend. But as I’m watching it, and all of that is going on in the background still, one of the first reactions I had was, “Oh my gosh! Someone did it. Someone made a pandemic horror film that has all new meaning now.” And I don’t know if you’re getting questions about that. Clearly, it’s a drama-

Griffin:
Yes.

Elliott:
… with definite horror themes, but a family/friend drama. Was this a story you already had brewing before all of this madness took hold of our world?

Griffin:
Oh, yes. A hundred percent. Yeah.

Elliott:
Okay. And then, of course, now considering the current context, how has it changed the meaning for you, or what’s your take on all of that, now?

Griffin:
Yeah, sure. So I wrote the script way before the pandemic existed. In fact, in my very first draft, it was a virus. My agent, at that time, said, “Oh, I don’t believe that.” I was like, “Really? What?” So I changed it. We made it environmental, which actually made much more sense for the film. So, that was interesting. Then, we shot the film, and when we started shooting… When we were casting, there was no pandemic. And then, we started shooting. The pandemic was coming out of Wuhan; the virus. And my husband was obsessively reading about it. I was like, “It’s fine.” It’s not fine. It was awful. But I always remember being absolutely horrified by Ebola, but it didn’t really come into our world so much. But it horrified me. So I thought it’d be similar to that, which was wrong and ignorant, I suppose.

Anyways, the pandemic grew as we were filming. And we had a three and a half week shoot, and by the end of the third week, people were frightened. We wrapped early, and then we were editing. And I think at the point where we locked the edit, there wasn’t a vaccine. They were still hoping to find the vaccine, but it wasn’t being administered. It wasn’t out in the public. So there were lots of things, had I known then what I know now, obviously, there might have been more delicate choices we would’ve made. But we were working in a bubble; not only a physical bubble but an emotional bubble. We were all sitting in our homes going, “What the hell’s going on?” Bits of information was coming out, as they learned. And then, I was trying to relate that to the story.

In fact, there were other elements to the story that have changed because we didn’t have the information up. Because part of the storyline was that the Lily-Rose [Depp] character was supposed to be infected by the boy, and then, one of the producers didn’t believe that she’d be infected. But then, we had this two-meter rule come out, and I was like, “Look, the two-meter rule.” Everyone’s going… I instinctively knew things would work, because I live in a place of horror in my head. I’m a hopeful person, but also a neurotic person.

Elliott:
Right. You’re considering the worst-case scenario. 

Griffin:
Yeah. And Keira [Knightley] said it very perfectly, that when you give birth, you give birth to fear, as well, when you become a parent. And so, I’ve always occupied a place of fear and hope. So, that’s just who I am. The tone is me. That’s how I experience life. But it breaks my heart. So, when we finished the film, it was mid-pandemic. The studios watched the film, and they were all really excited. But they were like, “We can’t bring this out. You’re crazy? You can’t fucking bring this movie out. You have to wait a year.” So the film was finished a year ago.

Elliott:
Oh, my gosh!

Griffin:
And then there’s the vaccine, and people felt like that the world was becoming more of a hopeful place, and that maybe an audience could cope. But there was no intention to traumatize people. The intention was to create a thought-provoking piece that was extreme, but it was never intended to hurt people. Are you referencing the anti-vax stage? Do you want me to talk about that?

Elliott:
Not necessarily that. For me, I guess in reference to your movie, in particular, I felt there was almost more of a subtle commentary on the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’. And like some people can retreat to the country, to their beautiful home, while essential workers are still going in every day.

Griffin:
Absolutely.

Elliott:
Yeah. Can you talk about those themes in the film?

Griffin:
Yes.

Elliott:
It’s sort of hindsight, I guess because you didn’t have that when you’re shooting. But I guess it still plays into how it’s going to be perceived.

Griffin:
I’ve grown up with conflicts of myself, and my environment, and my own class system. I was brought up in a very middle-class world, but slightly as an outsider because I had a French-Sicilian mother who grew up in a barn. She was one of 11. She had a very poor upbringing. And then, I had a stepfather, who’s an aristocrat and had his own experience. I was sent to boarding school at seven. So, I’ve had a very ongoing relationship with wanting to discuss the dysfunctions of the middle classes; the white, the privileged.

So it’s an absolute commentary on those that have and those that don’t. And that’s the point of Art’s argument. This is why I find the anti-vax thing interesting because he’s fighting for a socialist world. And he’s saying, “What about the underrepresented? What about the people who are struggling for us all? And the family life? We can’t do anything about that. Just take a pill and shut up.” So that is absolutely intended.

But that has been the world forever. And I just think it’s now heightened because of the pandemic. Because what I think is particularly cruel for the key workers, for instance, and for the medical workers; they train to be doctors, and nurses, and support systems. They didn’t train to be soldiers. And when soldiers choose to go into the world and fight, they’re making a conscious decision. I’m becoming a soldier. So we sit back and expect these medical workers, and the key workers, to fight a pandemic, yet they didn’t have a choice.

Elliott:
Right.

Griffin:
And that’s very unfair. So whatever we can do to support them, which is simply take the vaccine, or wear a mask, or stay at home rather than go to a party with 50 people; that’s all we have to do. So that those people who didn’t choose to fight for us, can be safer. So for me, that’s always been my truth of the world. I’ve always known that I had something, or I was living in a world, and other people didn’t have those things. Yet the world I was living in, wasn’t as nice as everyone thought. So that’s always been an ongoing issue for me; the privilege or the position of what privilege, where they can help, and they should help. I think it’s a very privileged position to be in, where you go, “I’m not taking the vaccine.” It’s like, “What the fuck?”

Elliott:
100 percent

Griffin:
We have to take care of each other.

Elliott:
Exactly.

Griffin:
So it’s ludicrous, in a way, that I’ve had to talk about that because the film is clearly arguing for society.

Elliott:
So you not only worked with children in this film, but you worked with your own children on this film! And so, ordinarily, I guess I would veer into ‘how do you talk about dark themes with children?’ But there was already this hovering black cloud, at the time. So how do you, though, deal with the dark themes of the film? But then also, just in a real-life situation, dealing with your children on a set? Can you talk about all of that? The ins and outs…

Griffin:
The very fact that you’re sitting in a car because your kids are noisy, is a truthful experience of being a mother, right?

Elliott:
Oh yes.

Griffin:
And I think there’s a fundamental issue in society, that parents aren’t allowed to say, “It’s hard.” When you’re pregnant, the hospital tells you how to give birth, or they try to. And when I did my NCT classes, which is what they call it in the UK, I was like, “I want to know what happens when it goes wrong.” They were like, “No, no.” I was like, “I want to know what to do when it goes wrong because I don’t think it’s going to just go right for me.” And so, I’ve always had again, as a conflict as a parent, and as a society, that you’re not allowed to say, “Help!” People get postnatal depression, they’re not allowed to say, “Help.” Who are we as parents? We’re supposed to be perfect, but we’re not. We’re messed up. Kids aren’t perfect. It’s really fucking hard right?

Elliott:
So hard.

Griffin:
So what I learned in psychotherapy was, it’s okay. That is the truth. But the most important thing is to say to the kids, we don’t know what we’re doing. We’re trying. Right?

Elliott:
Oh my god yes.

Griffin:
And you can tell us when we get it wrong, and you should be heard. And if we get it wrong, you’re suffering for it, and I’m responsible for that. So I’m not saying I have the freedom to be a terrible parent, but when I can’t get it right. I’m like, “Let’s just talk about the truth.”

Elliott:
Exactly! Honesty.

Griffin:
So, we’ve always had a household where my kids have had to experience the best of me and the worst of me. And I’ve always wanted to acknowledge that, so that when it’s their chance, I’m going to say to them, “Don’t just be angry with me. Just become better than me.”

Elliott:
I love that.

Griffin:
So my kids were the perfect cast for this film because they belong to our environment. And I also knew, that whoever played these roles, would have to feel safe in this chaotic landscape; a big cast, a big crew, a short schedule. And I didn’t want someone else’s child having to deal with such tricky material, and think that it would traumatize them, irreversibly. Whereas, I knew my kids would just… We had a lot of fun making it.

It was hilarious, when Roman was doing the scene on the bed, we were all laughing after 20 takes. We couldn’t stop laughing. So people don’t realize that, when you’re making a movie, it’s fun. These things are funny. But also, it’s stressful because there was an awful lot to do. So other than the fact they were brilliant actors, and Roman’s a great actor, and the boys are delightful, and Davida’s fantastic. I knew they would be safe, and they had a relationship. So, it wasn’t simply the nepotistic thing. It wasn’t, “I’m going to give my kids a job.” It was like, “What’s best for the film? What’s best for the children? What’s best for the material? Best for us?” So it all tied in, and they had an opportunity. Yeah.

Elliott:
They were great!

Griffin:
And the other question is, did they listen to me?

Elliott:
Yeah.

Griffin:
Which clearly is like, because my kids don’t listen to me, right? They did because the actors did. So very quickly, we started the film with a lot of… And I think Roman was looking at Keira, and going, “Oh, she’s listening to my mother. Maybe my mother’s got something important to say.” So they started trusting me as a filmmaker because the crew trusted me, the actors trusted me. So, that happened naturally. But I did worry like, “Oh, my God! Is Roman going to do what he’s told? Is he going to listen to me?” But yes, I hope that answers that question.

Elliott:
Yeah. That’s a great answer. And it’s so true, that sometimes they obey other people better, in some situations. And in this particular situation, following the fellow actors following your lead… brilliant. A perfect answer. I think they’re telling me to wrap it up, now, unfortunately. 

Griffin:
It was very nice to meet you.

Elliott:
Very nice to meet you too!

Griffin:
It’s really great that you’re writing about the film. So thank you for taking this time.

Elliott:
Absolutely. Thank you for such a wonderful film, and good luck with everything.

Griffin:
Okay. I appreciate that. You too.

Silent Night is available in theaters and AMC+ on December 3.

Read more Cinema Scholars interviews!

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Cinema Scholars Chats With Donald Mowat – Makeup Department Head on DUNE

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