“Vikings” actor Gustaf Skarsgård, brother to Alexander Skarsgård (Infinity Pool, “True Blood“) and Bill Skarsgård (IT, Barbarian), is venturing into horror with The Cannibal, his directorial feature debut centered around film legend Ingmar Bergman.
The psychological horror movie is written by Peter Birro, Variety reports, and charts a nightmarish descent that sees “a screenwriter in a creative crisis visits Ingmar Bergman’s estate on Fårö, seeking inspiration for a film about the legendary director’s life. Twenty years ago, he spent some time on Fårö as Bergman’s guest, and he’s convinced that going back to the island, remembering their many personal and sometimes disturbing conversations, will help him write the screenplay.
“He soon discovers that there is a demonic presence on the island that seems determined to prevent him from finishing the screenplay.“
Ardalan Esmaili (The Charmer) stars as the troubled screenwriter, David, who struggles with both his and Bergman’s demons, and Claes Ljungmark (Borg McEnroe) will portray Bergman.
Production is underway on the Swedish island of Fårö, in and around Bergman’s estate; the production team has been granted access by the Bergman Estate on Fårö Foundation.
Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, for the uninitiated, is considered one of the all-time greats. He’s also considered a godfather of horror, and an early pioneer of psychological horror and folk horror due to his emphasis on existential dread and the terror of an unraveling self/indentity. His highly influential films like Hour of the Wolf and The Virgin Spring have left an indelible mark on not just the genre, but emerging horror masters like Wes Craven, who drew from The Virgin Spring for his debut, The Last House on the Left.
The surreal style of and folkloric elements Hour of the Wolf, the closest in Bergman’s ouvre to straight horror, also shaped modern horror. David Cronenberg cited the film as an influence on his body horror classic, The Fly. Hour of the Wold is also considered part of the “Fårö trilogy” alongside Shame and The Passion of Anna. It’s certainly Bergman’s most disturbing.
Skarsgård said, “There is no way to approach Bergman, but from deep within the gigantic cinematic shadow the titan casts. Just like the main character David tries to break free from his demonic magnetism, so too the movie itself will attempt to break free in a playful way, by using his own artistic tools.”
Birro said, “When I was a young screenwriter, I got to meet Ingmar Bergman on his desolate island of Fårö. He told me about his demons and showed me where he kept them: locked away in the freezer. For 30 years, I’ve been longing to open that freezer door and let the demons out. Now the time has come.”
