The Singaporean filmmaker considers his latest movie, Confinement, a “thematic” sequel to The Maid.
The horror tale follows a fresh-off-the-plane Filipino domestic worker who has a close encounter with the spooky kind after she starts working for a couple who runs a Teochew opera troupe on the first day of the Hungry Ghost Month.
“It was very difficult for me to think of a way to drag out the storyline some more and revisit it,” he adds. Shortly after, weird things start to happen around the rookie parent — looming long-haired figures, barking dogs, and disembodied whispers. What's going on? Is everything happening for real or just in her head?
Actually, when we did the auditions, the camera was on the baby, but I was looking at the parents — we were auditioning the parents. What’s important is, first of all, the baby must look right for the part. But beyond that, most babies look like babies, right? What’s important is knowing their feeding and sleeping habits. When you have 60 crew members waiting to shoot a scene, you want the baby to be as predictable as possible.
The funny thing is, during pre-production, we actually fought for a lot of things to be shot with the dummy baby because why make your life so difficult, right? Like when it is a very wide shot, let’s just use the dummy. But somehow by day 14 or 15 of the shoot, Rebecca had gotten really well with the baby, as did Cynthia. The parents were very much involved in the film that it almost felt like they were acting in the film as well.
I think my first memory is that I was given no space to avoid my other responsibilities as a husband and a father. In a way, it’s also a little bit likebecause I felt like I was in a horror film. Usually in normal life, it’s like I’m a filmmaker and I’m always allowed the excuse of work to . When I had it with the kids, I would go, “Oh yeah, you handle the kids, I’m going to the study and work on my script or something.” You can say things like that.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
'Okay, relax': Pregnant Rebecca Lim talks to her unborn baby while watching own horror film ConfinementWith pregnancy comes its taboos, but local actress Rebecca Lim didn't let that stop her from watching her own horror film. On a recent episode of Just Swipe Lah uploaded on Oct 20, host Seow Sin Nee attended the premiere of the new local thriller Confinement, where she spoke to director Kelvin Tong and the cast, Rebecca and Cynthia Koh....
Read more »
'There have been days when I feel extremely ugly': Rebecca Lim on feeling insecure about her body during pregnancyThe 37-year-old Mediacorp actress, who is the star of new horror movie Confinement, also tells 8days.sg that she's the only one who knows the gender of her baby.
Read more »
US House Republicans narrow their options as they try again to pick a leaderRepresentative Tom Emmer won the most votes in the first round but failed to secure a majority. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Read more »
Republican Mike Johnson elected US House speaker, ending leadership vacuumWASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives elected Republican Mike Johnson, a conservative with little leadership experience, as its speaker on Wednesday (Oct 25) after a turbulent three weeks that
Read more »
Republican Mike Johnson elected US House speaker, ending leadership vacuumFirst elected in 2016, Johnson will be the least experienced House speaker in decades. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Read more »
Who is Mike Johnson, the new Republican US House Speaker?A former constitutional lawyer, Mr Johnson is an avowed supporter of Trump. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Read more »