Interviews
Johannes Roberts Talks About the Self-Aware Humor of the ’47 Meters Down’ Franchise [Interview]
Here’s the thing about the 47 Meters Down movies. They’re not very plausible, and the director knows it.
Johannes Roberts is very well aware that getting a bunch of scuba divers into very specific, confined conditions is implausible, and in a new interview with Bloody-Disgusting he explained that calling your shots in the build up, and being self-aware with the audience, is all part of the fun of making a film like 47 Meters Down and 47 Meters Down: Uncaged.
“Of all the things that I’ve done, and I think particularly this movie… I’ve yet to see it with an audience, just to be honest, but it is something to watch with an audience, and it is something to… you know what you’re getting into, and I think it is fun to me,” Roberts explained to us.
“You’re playing with certain things, and you’re playing with where, here we go! It’s a glass bottom boat!” Roberts explains, referring to the scene where it looks like the movie is going to be about a shark attack on a glass bottom boat.
“Nah, actually we’ll go there a different way,” Roberts says, describing the twist. “It is a playful movie in that sense, and setting certain things up that you just know are going to then happen, and then it’s just like, oh god, when is this going to happen, and how, and that kind of stuff? Yeah, it’s definitely playful.”
To put it another way, telling the audience what’s going to happen by filling the first act with warnings about what could potentially happen is a lot like a theme park ride. That’s something Johannes Roberts specifically toyed with in 47 Meters Down: Uncaged.
“To the point even, actually, that the girls in this movie arrive at the glass bottom boat thing, to get on it before they’re taken by their friends, you literally have the kind of ‘Roll up! Roll up! Come on, join the shark ride!’” Roberts said.
“We very much had that in mind that the glass bottom boat thing was a ride at Universal, that mentality. I think that then seeps into the whole movie. They’re roller coaster movies,” he added.
And you can get on that roller coaster right now! Uncaged is in theaters this weekend.
As the inaugural season of Apple TV+’s stellar new series “Widow’s Bay” barrels toward its finale in two weeks, the latest episode gives Kate O’Flynn the spotlight as her character revisits her trauma with the Boogeyman.
“Your Baggage“, directed by Andrew DeYoung (Friendship), sees O’Flynn’s scene-stealing Patricia once again renew her fight with the Michael Myers-like stalker that slaughtered her peers during her adolescence. Thrillingly, it makes for one extended chase sequence that sees Patricia trying to warn others, while evading the undead killer.
In short, this episode’s incredible riff on Halloween and the slasher subgenre transformed Patricia into a fierce Final Girl.
“Well, that felt like a bucket list that I didn’t know was on my bucket list until I did it, but when I did it, I just lapped up every minute,” O’Flynn tells Bloody Disgusting of her triumphant turn this episode. “It felt fantastic for her to get that moment where she is becoming a badass. That was amazing.”
The actress turned to a few notable references for her performance. “Horror-wise, I go back to my youth, which was referenced in some of the episodes: Wicker Man, Carrie, and Rosemary’s Baby, that sort of thing is my kind of vibe.”
O’Flynn also notes how the series’ unique tone allows for so much creative freedom to make bold swings. “There’s something very freeing about it. Every moment is up for grabs, so it’s like we don’t have to totally land in one direction or another. It keeps it alive.“
Patricia is the eccentric assistant to Matthew Rhys‘ Mayor Tom Loftis, who’s at the forefront of trying to solve the island’s pesky curse predicament. Rhys felt the same about “Widow’s Bay” and its rare ability to make you laugh and scream in equal measure, stemming from series creator Katie Dippold.
“The mandate was, ‘It’s a real world with real people. You play for real.’ There’s no playing for comedy or horror,” Rhys echoes O’Flynn’s sentiments on how freeing the series’ tone has been.
New episodes will release every Wednesday through June 17 only on Apple TV+.
Kate O’Flynn in “Widow’s Bay,” now streaming on Apple TV.
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