Reptile Interview: Grant Singer on Making a Netflix Hit & That Ending

[Music] what's up everyone welcome back for another very special edition of collider dailies you not only have me and Steve today but you have a guest a very cool guest we have grand singer the director behind reptile one of Netflix's hottest movies right now my God first feature and big winner on Netflix congratulations Grant thank you so much I really appreciate it so Steve I believe you're kicking us off here right yeah I was going to say I'm going to start with the first question so uh for people who are not uh who do not have the number one movie on Netflix um I'm just curious what is it like actually having the number one film for three consecutive weeks it's surreal I mean I think actually it wasn't until the the weekend the movie was released um that I really have even like a remote grasp on like the global impact of Netflix I was getting messages and languages don't even understand about like how much the movie moved them and how much people connected with it and that to me was like something that I I didn't fully understand until like the movie had been out just like their reach like this is like not just like a movie that has like oh the movies and theaters around the world I mean it's like anyone who has a TV not anybody but a lot of people of TV have a Netflix account so just the like this the the sheer scope um and volume of the amount of people that it reaches is pretty surreal um so I think I think surreal is the right answer sounds like an appropriate word to use I'll just preface this question by telling everybody this is going to be a spoiler-free interview until we say otherwise so you are in a safe place until we give you a very very clear warning if you have not watched reptile but I'm going to risk it with this question Grant so given given the widespread reaction to this movie is there anything in particular that surprised you about an audience's response to the film like unexpected interpretations or little details that people picked up on that you didn't think they would so someone had sent me these like um Twitter threads of like people reading into every little thing and some of them I was like some of them actually was like okay they're actually catching on the things that we were doing with the film which I was like really pleased with I'm like oh these people are very thoughtful and considerate in their sort of you know experience of the movie and then other things I was like wow I didn't even think about that so there's a lot of like almost new theories or new sort of people sort of putting things together in their own head that to me again like I it's not that I didn't think about it like what how people were going to sort of respond to the movie and interact with the movie but again it's like there's always surprises as to sort of what people latch on to certain things in the script or certain things in the film making Mir be mirroring you know I'm not talking about the actual use of mirrors in the movie but like the mirroring sort of how things are paralleled throughout the movie but I think just the the manner in which people really sort of um got into the intricacies of all the little details throughout the movie that I think really surprised there's one little uh rabbit hole that I went down and I'm going to save it for the spoiler section but I'm very curious if this is like a legitimate thing that you thought to do tease that for later okay excited uh I'm I'm so curious uh it's hard to sometimes get meetings in Hollywood but once your movie comes out and people like it and it's doing well that can change so what have the last few weeks been like for you in terms of like people wanting to meet you or discuss what you want to do next uh because the movie is you know what I mean yeah the the people who've seen the movie and whove liked it you know I've had some meetings with and you know mostly we talk about the movie sort of what you know what it was like to make it you know I think there's always once you make your first film people are just curious about like not just the movie that you made but like what do you want to do in the future you know it's like do you want to make something similar you know are you looking to make a similar sort of crime Thriller are you looking to do something different like what kind of projects whether they have something or do I have an original idea that I was sort you know that I would want to go out with things like that and also was just trying to I think most of the meetings are like just getting to know me or like you know like getting a sense of like okay who's the person that directed the movie um and yeah I think certainly once you make a movie you have there's more opportunities to like just broaden your horizon in terms of the matter you know whether it be Studios or producers or actors I've actually had had that was also surprising actors reaching out to me how much they enjoyed the movie and wanted to sort of talk and I was with an actor yesterday who I really loved and uh you know just uh you know the actor meetings are are really special because at the end of the day I think the actor director relationship is probably the most sacred relationship when making a movie you know at the end of day you can be super talented as director but if if if what you're seeing on screen isn't you know moving or emotional or powerful then you know it it's it's hard to make something compelling so I'm I I love meeting actors and hearing what they're interested in doing and um what their thoughts of the movie were so so certainly the actor meetings are very cool too I have to do I love that mentality about working with actors I have to do a followup so what have you been telling people in these meetings in terms of what you want to do next well it depends on the it depends on the meeting you know and and I'm I'm not kg I'm not like concealing anything you know I'm I'm I'm writing something that I I I would like to do but I'm also open to doing other things but like I don't want to like be super prescriptive and say this is what my next movie is or this is what I want to do I want to be open and like here you know every meeting is different and and um and uh a lot of times people can sort of surprise you with a story at the end of the day like sometimes you might hear a story like something might happen to you like you might hear a story like wow I didn't think that would be something that I would be you know want to pursue or a movie that you would want to see for example but then all of a sudden it kind of like strikes you and you can't stop thinking about it so I just want to be open to sort of you know um what you know what might come my way and um yeah I think that's really the the right answer so we we jumped like way ahead without talking about your background given that this is your first feature a lot of our viewers are likely first going to get to know you via this interview via this movie so first I wanted to ask you uh I guess kind of to pick your favorite child of all your music videos do you have an absolute favorite like if everyone left this interview and watched just which one would you want them to watch that's a great question I would say um the weekend call out my name it's the this the last video I did for AEL and um at that time I'd already made five or six maybe seven music videos for him I can't remember but I felt like we were really you know vibing well creatively and it felt like I felt free he felt free as an artist our collaboration was great I like the way it looks visually I like the compositions I like how presentational it is it's sort of like I'm doing sort of like kind of Mark romantic photographic things in there I love the color palette I just I just enjoyed also the experience of making that project you know like it was visually aggressive um it was just it was just a fun thing you know it was just a good time making that video that video it's a solid Choice I've grown a little obsessed with h red hearse over the years so I feel like I would Veer towards that one that one and half love you got to watch both I like I like those I love Jack antinoff shout out Jack who you know is red is one of the guys in red hearse and I love making those that was like I met Jack through working with Ella who goes by Lord um when I was doing Greenlight the first video I did for her and we became Pals and so he hit me up and said hey I got this side project you want to make a video and we've stayed close ever since I I love making those videos too those were good those were fun ones work with some really cool people all right Steve you want to take us into reptile uh sure what the hell I heard I might have some questions um so I think that for a lot of people so this is your feature debut and how much did you debate uh what you wanted to do with your feature and why was reptile the thing that ended up getting made I knew I wanted to make a crime Thriller I think like a sort of contempor and Noir these are movies you know in the similar vein that have I think have have stuck with me the most throughout my life um as a student of film and loving movies and I felt like with your first you know movie you want to you're not just trying to make a good movie but you're also trying to like convey who you are as a filmmaker and there was this sort of unnerving suspenseful tone with a little bit of warmth and playful and levity just felt like the right kind of movie to make is my first film and then um what was the second part of the question uh I don't remember I think it was basic okay me neither but it just felt it felt like the right this just felt like the right you know movie to make I mean it's it's I I really approach um directing thing and and even just like what we were talking about going back to your earlier question which is like what do you want to do next right like everything is intuitive I don't want to be super intellectual or cerebral in terms of like how I want like what I want to do this is what I want to do it's like I want to be very open and liberate I think artistically as I guess as as person who's growing as a filmmaker and wanting to do new things being open right is is is also a really important part of that same facet of being creative it's not you know for me being really hard in terms of you know that kind of mentality is not something that I think yields the right kind of results for me personally you know totally makes sense going back to the the music videos a little bit because you've had so much success in that realm is it easy to convince the necessary parties to give you the okay to direct a feature or is it a situation where you have to convince them like I'm good at this but I can do this as well I would I actually think unfortunately you have to start from scratch like certainly you you get your foot in the door like okay listen I can direct meaning like I can direct something visual but I I think unfortunately there's a um there's a negative uh perception with music video directors like oh you're just like a music video director like it's not serious it's it's for some reason again I come from the generation of like looking up to people like Fincher and Spike Jones and Mark romantic and Michelle gandre and you know Chris Cunningham and Hype Williams and all those guys um so I I knew at a young age like well there was a path forward even subconsciously like if I were to make music videos maybe one day I get might make the opportunity to like prove myself as a director of music videos and then maybe I can get with the right script or whatever can make a movie um when you go in that room like these pitch meetings you it's it's they're really just kind of looking as a again I I can't speak for everyone but in in my instance it's like okay does this guy have a vision is he going to be good with actors right as a producer or a studio it's like you might be the most talented director ever visually but if you can't like articulate your vision and also seem collaborative there's all these like different personality traits again you would have to ask a producer what those specifically are but I'm I'm just assuming it's the idea when you're a director you have to like um you're you're really the like the ultimate communicator on set you have to communicate to hundreds of people what your vision is work very economically and quickly um and not be overly precious about certain things especially in your first film because you don't have that like you don't have as much leverage um so in that in that pitch process there really as much like it's it's less almost about like what is the movie you want to make and more like who are you is this someone that like I want to invest x amount of dollars into this project because a lot of projects succeed but a lot of projects don't so it's and I can also speak on behalf of bonio on that first meeting I had with him he had so many questions right like about the movie like so so many questions about what my vision was but I could tell minute 45 it was less about the movie and more about him trying to figure me out right because as a director as an actor you're really I don't care how talented you are if you're in the hands of of a director right and like they could mismanage your performance they might have a very different vision of what the movie is versus what your vision is so he was very much trying again I can't speak for him but my perception of that meeting was he was trying to get a sense of who I was as a person and as a director what kind of director I would be on your first movie movie right so it's a it's a lot of like it's a lot of that it's a lot of like them sensing out okay this guy Grant he's made a lot of music videos we know he's got sort of a visual thing but how is that going to translate into a narrative thing and and again I don't care how persuasive you are in the room once you're on set it's that's really the ultimate test you know speaking of bisio um you he co-wrote this screenplay um which is the the first time he's gotten a credit like that so what what surprised you about working with him as a screenwriter what did he bring to the table you know benio is so um thoughtful about every little detail right as an actor I think again I don't approach film as an actor I approach it you know from from more objective perspective being behind the camera um but as an actor you have to inhabit these characters and he's had decades and Decades of doing Incredible movies inhabiting brilliant very varied characters so he thinks about stories from within right from within a story from within the character really from a very complex three-dimensional way and a holistic way um so he brings a lot of consideration passion and thoughtfulness into Every Little Beat right of the movie not just from his character but also through the story telling um and it was a it was a very rewarding process the whole experience was was pretty amazing amazing and also just having the time you know I I can't even imagine going to set right and your first movie and you don't have much uh Time ahead of time with the with the your lead actor right like you maybe you've had a couple meetings you've you know whatever but that would be a very different experience than the one I had which like by the time we were rolling I had we had just endless amount of conversations about the movie we really got to know each other as people so there was a comfort level that was I think very Bene beneficial for the final product which was the film familiarity of not feeling um insecure in any way you know in your role like it was it was I felt very comfortable with him communicating with him and I think vice versa for him you know and then you obviously uh cast Alicia just so you could make an excess baggage reunion right well it's funny he it was his suggestion um to cast Alicia when we were talking about that during that casting process he brought her name up and I thought that was so inspired and again he had known her for so long and having worked with her he just clearly knew that she could inhabit the role in a beautiful way and I loved that I thought it was such an inspired idea and then once we talked to her over Zoom it was just kind of it felt inevitable it felt like just a totally right decision I'm so glad it worked out she's crushing it lately I feel like in recent years but this year in particular seeing uh this and perpetrator back to back I'm like you like you are the coolest like keep swinging big and doing bold projects because I'm very much here for it I am too and it's funny like the week or two after the movie came out we saw an IMDb her star meter was number one and I was like it made me feel so good it made me feel so good because like we are bringing Alicia back and it was just it was amazing obviously I can't take sole credit for that but I just love that she's doing so well and she's just the best person I I can hope to continue to work with her you know in for many years to come it makes me happy so one thing I love doing is highlighting the the different variety of approaches to acting that there are out there so I I'll Loop Justin in for this too can you maybe specify something unique about the way that Justin Alicia and bicio all approach their work where it calls for something different from you as their actor's director it's great question by the way um every actor in the movie approached their process completely different I actually don't think there was a single actor where I could be like oh yeah those two people are the same or those two people kind of communicated with me about their process their roles and what their character is doing the same it was every charact every actor um was a very unique uh relationship with that I had with them um Justin is like is you know one of the greatest and biggest pop stars in the world right he's an amazing musician but he's also a phenomenal actor and he he really thinks about his character in the story in in in such deep ways I can't I can remember like leaving set and like being on the phone with him for like an hour and a half about like whatever we're going to do the next day and different ideas and again super thoughtful but in different ways than bonio right like they both communicating with them is also very different like you you talk about things in a different way same thing with Alisa same thing with Michael pit right like Michael pit is um you know very immersive as an actor and um speaking to him even like getting him you know or or getting ready to do a scene I would communicate with him very differently than I would with Justin also a lot of times Justin and um Michael had scenes together which was so amazing for me because I would I would direct them very differently right like I would go speak to Justin about what you know what we were going to do um in a certain scene and then I'd go to Michael where he was standing outside smoking or whatever and I would talk to Michael and I'd be like listen Michael so I want to do this and he and I would I would I would like completely change the way that I would talk about the scene and then it was great CU then you have these two very opposing sort of diabolically different characters right you know intrinsically completely just alien one another and I think that's what makes those scenes so alive and and and have such a sort of a Vitality to them is cuz you're seeing completely two different types of people from two different walks of life two different approaches to acting sort of converge and that to me was really exciting it's a great answer uh one of the things listen I uh I I touched on this with you previously but I really enjoyed the way you moved the camera especially in the First Act and because I rewatched the film last night and there's like really methodical Choice like real choices in the First Act with how the camera's going especi just things that I noticed um and how you do your edits which is very abrupt and so I'm curious can you talk about being the moving camera on a on a tight schedule where I also know you didn't have a lot of time in prep to before you stepped on set and you know the way you chose to edit with those sharp edits so sharping the operative word and I appreciate you you seeing that cuz that's something we were going I wanted something that would like slice right right I wanted something CTIC abrasive I want like the that that really hard sharp um yeah razor sharp uh construction to the movie I I love like very classical camera moves like I'm very traditional like I love like when I watch older movies I just love the way they move the camera like it's like very considered and it's very like I don't know to me it's like a love letter to like all these movies from the past but um I I wanted that sort of uh yeah that very sort of for like I think we were talking about the First Act the First Act is much more presentational and then as the film progresses the film gets within benio's character and it becomes much more immersive long we use longer lenses more zooms it's a little bit I don't want say more loose but it's certainly more like um within right it's within a scene as opposed to objective right like as the movie begins we're much more outside of the world and we're sort of looking at it sort of vois and then it just sort of completely changes once the like there's actually a shot halfway through the film film spoiler where something happens with Bono's character and he's being taken away in a police car and there's a shot of the farm field and there's a fence in between in the center of the frame and it's before you Fade to Black we see the car very far away from the camera just drive from the right side of the screen to the left side of the screen and we Fade to Black and you see like these cows on either side but it's really at that point in the movie we're going from the first half of the film to the second half and the film is completely changing right and at that moment at that point really the way that I Shot the movie is slightly different right like I'm I'm not going to go into like how I Shot the movie but like we we do that's sort of the turning point right in terms of like the style that you're talking about and it's funny because I watched the killer last night and fer does these amazing Sonic Transitions and cut points that I'm very fond of um and certainly like there are similar sort of uh sharp edges to the way reptile has been edited and constructed and that's just a taste thing you know it just it just comes down to like how you want to that was something that was even years ago before we Shot the movie I would I knew that that was that was going to be in the construction of the film just something again like you were saying why did you want to make this movie it was like well I wanted to also employ those those techniques cinematically because I just loved them you know so before we Veer into spoiler territory I wanted to ask you one broader question because we we always love highlighting as many people's work in this industry as possible can you name other than the killer a recent movie you saw that inspired you and maybe even I don't know gives you hope for the future of this craft and Industry that's a great question a movie before I made reptile or within the last couple it could be any time like I'll take either I'll even take both if you have two examples I have two examples let me just think about this for a second okay I rewatched Sho Shine by Desa um it's it's it's an older movie obviously he made it just before bicycle thieves but that sort of sincere film making that just like just about that deals with the Human Condition and the corruption of Youth and innocence and it deals with things that are very Primal um and it's it's just it it comes from such a a deep place in the soul um and the storytelling is just so brilliant the performances are like just unbelievable um it just took my breath away another movie okay a more recent movie that I saw in loved I rewatched swimming pulled by franois Zone which was a movie that I loved in 2004 is it 2004 when I no no no no 2001 when it came out and I remember like I'm rewatching movies kind of like that I've Loved from the past and I I love that movie and Charlotte rampling is just incredible and I love that um the atmosphere and how that movie really takes its time and doesn't again just it's it's so so great I don't want to I was about to say the effort I'm not going to but one movie I saw last night and I have to give shout out it was so inspiring was the Killer and again no spoilers that movie is not out yet but um I thought you were about to ask me is there a perform when you said um do you want to give a shout out to someone I thought you going to say was there a performance and there's a performance of an actor in that movie that is so great I mean all the performances but um I believe her character name is Dolores and uh I wasn't familiar with with her as an actor before last night before the movie and she's so good in the movie though all the all the performances in the movie were great but shout out the killer that movie is Sensational and I just can't wait for that movie to come out wa wait now I want to look up who plays dores I I have I have a question you're you're telling me that David Fincher manages to get great performances out of people that is shocking well you know what's so funny is that I think whenever I read about Fincher obviously I have my own relationship to his work because I've been influenced by pit for so long but people always talk about like the sort of technical magnificence of his movies which are undeniable right he's just a master technically in in many ways I mean in every way um but people don't talk about his performances I in my opinion like when I read about his work people like talk about like the imagery and all the sort of like directorial things that are going on in his movies and what he's what he's able to do um but I I really feel in all of his movies specifically when I watched the killer last night oh my God it it might be my favorite Michael fast Bender performance ever that I've seen him in and it's so good and the performances are just like Sensational and so I don't want to I don't want to no spoilers but like I I have a lot to say about that movie because it really moved me um and I had I had like a grin a smile on my face the whole time and it was just it's it's such a it's such a pleasure to watch his his work and and I'm so excited that it's a movie that's going to be on Netflix so so many people are going to see it and um I think it's going to be a huge hit Carrie O Ali plays Dolores just so everyone can jot her name down and I'm going to be looking at for her when I see that movie now he is amazing shout out Carrie uh I'm also listen I've been pitching the government for something and maybe you guys can help me make it happen but I have always believed especially the last few years that anytime David Fincher has a new movie coming out it should be a national holiday yes yes I'm on that level uh because I agree listen it it national holiday I mean I'm willing to do World holiday but for now I'll just take you know the United States well can we at least get him an Oscar because last night the screening they announced all his collab was like Oscar winner Oscar winner Oscar winner and then greatest director on the planet David Fincher that's what that's Alvis Mitchell said and we all clap it I'm thinking how does he not have an Oscar how does he not have an Oscar by now it doesn't make sense I I I'll say that he has not made that Oscar movie he's not leaned in to making a film that is an Oscar type player the fact of the matter is if he wanted it um um I believe he he you he's so ridiculously talented that he just hasn't he hasn't played the game and he hasn't made a film that's like an Oscar film Perry I don't know if you want to I feel like in hindsight like in hindsight we could say that a bunch about a bunch of his films that they were deserving with M it was uh something that maybe could have been something but the other thing is like look I mean there's Incredible movies this year and um you know only one is going to win best picture it's going to probably be Oppenheimer you know uh Nolan is going to you know remember Nolan hasn't gotten anything either so you know know um what was 2007 zodiac that listen I know that was a crowded year with There Will Be Blood no country Michael Clayton I believe was 2007 um you had uh 2007 was also um that Noah bombb back movie uh Margo at the wedding right it was like a very um oh I can't believe I'm not going to remember the name7 2007 was a huge year for movies um did did did what year was The Departed no that was earlier that was 2004 oh I don't remember I don't know uh the point is that was I understand I mean zodiac to me is is certainly worthy of that but um listen we don't have to this isn't the the the how come David fer hasn't won an Oscar episode although it should be but um I listen I I think I certainly felt like mink was deserving of that and I don't remember what won that year what who won best director but um when I watched M the first time it was like I I I couldn't even it's like a Marvel like actual unbelievable Marvel Cinematic Marvel was it just again National won that year national holiday when Fincher has a new coming uh new movie coming out yeah let's do all right right done DL we're going to make it happen we manifested it and now it is time to talk about reptile spoilers so if you have not watched the movie now is the time to push pause on the video you go watch it on Netflix then you come back and push play and the video begins right here it's that easy it's that great all right first question that I wanted to throw in this section so you can answer it freely what is the biggest difference between draft one of this screenplay and what we now see in the final film the first draft was much more ambiguous much more like leaving things the audience's imagination um it was more Lost Highway in tone like really unnerving and mysterious and sort of Out Of Reach and then um the movie that you saw is I think there there are a lot of things that are similar um but there's um much more clarity in terms of uh certain things specifically in the last act and uh you know earlier drafts had a different ending you know the biggest thing was that it had a much a much more ambiguous ending where you sort of don't know what happens and it's it's more internal and perhaps a little bit more cerebral um and left to the viewer's imagination and I think that um yeah so that's the biggest difference I'd say I want to follow up on that was it you got was it benio's notes or a like a producer note that caused that change to get to audience to see what they see or did you realize along the way maybe this is too you know this this might be too much for like a a mainstream audience I think I mean certainly like once um you know you develop a script with the producers right who have like you know come to the movie from a different perspective right both loving the vision but also like wanting to make it work for a large audience and certainly once Netflix comes on board it's like wow you know we as the filmmakers are much more conscious of like this has to this is going to play for a lot of people right it's like I compare it to like okay you watch like Imagine The Velvet Underground um you know playing a small club in like the late 60s right in downtown New York their performance is going to change same songs but when they play the Hollywood Bowl cuz you're you're going to play the same music but you're going to you're going to um you're going to modulate how you perform the song slightly different depending on the size of the audience right and I think that there was certainly some calibration there um you know where we started to realize yeah just like the form the format right like how this was going to play for for different people but I think it was also just like what we felt was right like where we want the story to go when you when you work on this when you work on a movie again I can't speak for everyone but from just speaking from from from me um it it's a process where like your understanding of the material changes the more you look at it and the more you think about it right and you start of think about you know this isn't a cerebral work it's not a literary work it's a work that an audience is going to be sitting with these characters and they're going to get invested in them and you're going to want to know certain things or else you want you're going to feel cheated right or like cheated not just by the characters but by the filmmaker by the movie and you want to leave you want to you want to just be conscious of how you're um of the audience's perception it's the same thing with like why do I do certain edits it's because I want the I want it to strike and I want that feeling for the viewer right it's not just cuz I like it as the you know in the editing room it's because I understand that it's going to have a certain um effect for the viewer so you're always thinking about how an audience is going to engage with the movie and again it's just these are things that just evolved over time but yes I think from the first dra all the way to the movie you saw the ending was was different and also just to to point like for for people realizing like it also comes down to are you making is your because if you could have made the movie that you're talking about but it would have played to far less people you would have had to make it on a much lower budget and you would have been considered lynchian rather than you know what I mean like you'd be setting a path that for a completely different trajectory if you had chosen to make it the way you originally designed it absolutely and you know I'm always straddling as a as a person as an artist like I have more probably Fringe taste musically right than most people like I love very experimental music and I've always my whole life sort of sort of leaned into sort of more you know uh left of center things but yet I'm now at least in this instance I'm making a movie or making movies that are more commercial right so I'm always going to sort of imbue my artistic sensibilities or more my more sort of outd their things but I'm doing it in a more um in in a more mainstream vein right so it's just that it's that right balance you know it's it's also where you are maybe one day I will make more of a sort of like really heavy feeling less narrative um less you know whatever movie but right you know with this instance it was just that was the movie to make you know I apologize for for pulling us on into a side street but jumping back into spoilers so was it always and this is a big spoiler was it always going to be Justin that was the the killer yeah who orchestrated his uh his uh his girlfriend's death yeah that was always the same I mean the the the the um like the tles of the story never changed right it wasn't like we changed we like approached to things from scenes C certainly from different ways but the the general story was always the same here's my super specific question that I teed up Ear laer cuz I saw I saw this on Reddit and I'm like oh it's kind of right right are the colors that all of the characters wear specific to who they are and their intentions in the movie no but I did see something like that that's one of the things where I was like Wow people really read into those things I would say most of the again that's a question for my costume designer she might be like absolutely and I and I don't want to answer that actually because I'm G to I want to let Amanda um take responsibility for that cuz if she were doing that that wasn't I don't remember if we had specific conversations know we had certain conversations in terms of like maybe color things you know in terms of you know color stories with each character um those conversations are a little distant in my memory so I don't want to speak on that but I think actually Amanda who you should speak to she might have a better answer to that but yes I I did read I did read that and again I was like those are when I'm like oh man this is people really engaged with the movie they're going color beat by beat that's pretty cool I res scrubbed through and tried to like line everything up I'm like oh this kind of makes sense and I purposely didn't wear blue because of that post well by the way you know now that I now that you said I do remember Amanda and I having conversations about the color for specific characters so I think yeah that was something that she was doing but again I don't take credit for that that's more her so uh so one of the things about this film just like every film is where do you actually stop where what is those closing shots so I'm curious did you was there ever a debate on the film ending with bonio shot on the chair or was it like where how did you decide because it goes a little further with you know Justin on the golf course and you know bonio in the kitchen so how did you decide exactly where you wanted to end it and was it possibly ever something else yes so there was um there were discussions about like okay so when we shot the scene with like the little kids at the window which is kind of like again very aligned tonally with what we're doing with the rest of the movie with the home renovation with just all the stuff with the characters again it's like Teeter on like evil and nerving but also with like a warmth and a little bit of a levity that's like the film sort of wavering between various tones that felt like very aligned with the tone of the rest of the movie and then you have like this he's calling 911 right and he's just like she's like you know 911 what's your emergency and then you see the tone and you see that you know you're on Bono's face and it's such an incredible performance right with his face right there and you could end the movie we actually tried in the edit we were like playing around my editor Kevin Hickman shout out Kevin he's amazing we were like playing with it we're like wow you could just cut to Black here that's pretty striking you know um but again these are then conversations you have with your collaborators like okay well you know taking the audience and like what is that going to do for the perspective of the audience yes it's a striking ending but is the audience is the audience going to feel like what happened to Justin right are they're going to like what happened to you know are they going to and it felt like I do this sort of thing in the kitchen you know that like is a little bit of like an epilog um that's like intercuts this thing with Justin and benio in the kitchen and I love the metaphor of the of the paraffin of him healing right and then he sort of shedding the skin as the wound and then he you know with the with the faucet at the end it just felt like just worked you know and it's like again you you could and the movie with him at you know looking at the kids and at that window and staying in that room um but for various reasons we we decided to to do the ending that you guys that when the end up making the cut I did want to ask about the touchless it and choosing that as your final FR but not even just choosing that as your final image but figuring out precisely how long that shot should be so was a very quick shot the camera's on a dolly we mean 99.9% by the way shout out Dwayne our Dolly grip who I met who who's also finers Dolly grip who who did the killer he sat right behind me at the screening last night love him these guys don't get the credit that they deserve right there's like these people all those camera all those moves that you guys like that we like that I like there's people operating the camera um and who are responsible for just how clean and sharp and beautiful they are um and actually I'm not sure if uh I'm not sure if Dwayne did that shot I'm not sure if there was someone else anyway because we had a you know uh anyway the point is cuz he he left a few days early to do um the killer but um uh going back to that shot um what I like about that shot is that the camera sort of starts like with bonio as he's walking away from micia and it's like a move and then we kind of land in our B position and right when land it's like that perfect time where he does the hand thing and if you notice it it's like on a beat right on the Dylan song it's on a beat he doesn't finish the hand it kind of like goes so it's like a it's kind of like Steve what you were saying earlier these kind of like Sharp Cuts it's like we end the movie on a cut that's very similar to what we were doing earlier in the movie which is it's these whooshes right these very sharp things where you're cutting before the shot really ends it's just stylistically and aesthetically something that I'm drawn to as a as a viewer and that I like to do as a maker as well you know I'm I'm curious when the film is successful like after three weeks you know being number one um does Netflix actually call you and say do you want to do more with benio's character or how much is it sort of like you know this is a contained story it was good got you know people like it and let's move on to something else I I've never had any conversations with Netflix about um uh you know opening up the story of reptiles so I mean if there are conversations no one's reached out to me about that um but you know I think the film is very self-contained and I don't know you know what you would I mean at this moment on you know whatever day this is at at whatever time um I haven't thought about you know um a different iteration of the story or in a different you know be their past or the future so I I don't know you know I think everyone's just very happy that um the movie found has found its audience and it's finding its audience and um across the globe and that's really exciting so I think we're just happy with just the reception that it's been getting you know from people watching the movie and and it's certainly a word of mouth movie without the actors having to um promote the movie um this is a movie that's really found its audience from Word of Mouth you know and um that's a great feeling that this is a movie that like you know there wasn't this like crazy big thing it wasn't like you had all these actors going on TV shows and so it kind of just found it it's found its footing and that's really exciting you know that'd be a really nice way to end the interview but I want to squeeze in one more specific thing I have to ask you about the the not even just the Frisbee shot but the idea of incorporating the Frisbee that way at all what inspired that was that in the draft from the very beginning no that was that was later that came later um it was a conversation that we had and um um I remember like I there's all these like acts of God in the movie right like have had bonio not like drop the binder right like in the beginning of the is it this it's like kind of mid midc act like and he kind of sees a bites he might not have reopened the case it was like this moment where it just like fell out and these two bite marks he puts them together and it kind of gets his brain thicking and this's this idea of like kids playing outside the house which we love this idea like that's me I'm putting myself in the movie which this is my first film I'm just playing and at the end of the movie we actually had a shot by the way it's not included where like the the frisbee does like the sort of 2001 A Space Odyssey thing and it just felt like way it just felt like a little bit too indulgent you know uh but I the shot is excuse my language effing amazing it is like one of my favorite shots B and I always like we have a still of it the Frisbee that we text each other just cuz we love that shot and the image it's so funny um and bizarre but um the reason I bring it up is that when it hits the thing it's this act of God right that causes this convergence between these two characters and at the end of the movie you have these kids make eye contact with bonio and that's the moment where me as a director I am making eye contact with my lead actor and we have this moment of like connection right and it's just a way to sort of impart my own experience making the movie Into The Narrative you know what I mean and it's a little it's a it's that's that was where that came from I love that thinking I should also say that you are on social media so down the road not right now uh you should release that that the that shot of the 2001 uh on like Instagram Twitter you know just for the just for the hell of it one day maybe one day in a few years yeah yeah yeah no but it's a it's a it's a cool shot but again there's by the way making a movie I know we have to end but like there's so many things that I loved they just like made on the cting floor they're like great shots they're like oh my God this is so cool but they're just they don't make it that was one of those cool shots but again you have to make you don't want to make a movie that's indulgent like you know um and I didn't want to I didn't want that moment felt like it just didn't feel appropriate to indulge the viewer I'm always shooting things like oh my God that's cool oh my God that's cool oh my God and it's like you can't have all these oh my gods and and or else it detracts away from the storytelling and becomes more about the filmmaker you know what I mean is more about like look at what I can do and and and you want to be a little bit more or I want to be a little bit more invisible you know in terms of my hand in in specific sequences you know i' I've actually all right Steve last call I was just going to say that I've spoken to some directors who've talked about how it was an expensive sequence I was convinced it was the best thing we shot in the movie it's eight minutes and we had to lose it in the editing room because it just didn't work in the movie even though the film making was um like everything about it was amazing it just didn't work in the movie exactly and those that's that's actually one of the hardest things to do as a as a director is when you're like you're like I killed this sequence I just like this shot is everything I love about Cinema but it's just doesn't fit or it's just but it's one of the things you have to do it's just part of the process you know but yeah so it goes you back pocket those ideas and you do them on the next one exactly exactly next time all right we gotta let you go Grant thank you for your time today you guys so much great congratulations thank you thank you take care guys all right thanks for everyone out there watching uh this edition of collider dailies have a wonderful week and everyone we see you bright and early Monday morning for a brand new episode

Channel: Collider Ladies Night

Views: 771

Keywords: collider, collider dailies, movies, film, movie news, perri nemiroff, steve weintraub, john aljets, podcast, reptile, reptile netflix, reptile explained, reptile ending, reptile spoilers, reptile interview, reptile grant singer, grant singer interview, grant singer reptile, justin timberlake, benicio del toro, alicia silverstone, filmmaking, interview, reptile 2023, grant singer, justin timberlake reptile, reptile netflix movie, reptile ending explained, netflix reptile

Id: nChHivS83Fo

Length: 44min 42sec (2682 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 27 2023