A graduate of Denmark’s National Film School, filmmaker Mads Mengel has directed several well-regarded shorts as well as TV shows that have garnered him nominations at the Danish Academy Awards and the Danish TV Awards.
His feature debut The Guest, which is screening in Karlovy Vary’s Crystal Globe competition, follows a couple who are looking forward to a weekend gathering at a seaside hotel where they will be holding a naming party for their baby son. When the husband’s mother arrives unannounced, tensions rise, relationships are fractured and old wounds are opened as the weekend begins to unravel.
The tense drama is highlighted by a sterling performance from Trine Dryholm as the film’s troubled matriarch (read Screen’s review here).
Copenhagen-based outfit Monolit Films produced and Level K is handling international sales.
What was the impetus for you and your co-writer Christian Bengtston to write The Guest?
It was a fascination from both of us about complex relationships and quite early on we knew that we wanted to make something the complexity in families – how they can be a place of great sorrow but also great love and tenderness, sometimes at the same time.
Your lives also changed while you were writing the film, correct?
We both became fathers in the middle of the process and it affected the project in many ways as our perspectives changed. The film took a different shape and I think it gave a lot of nuances to the story that maybe weren’t there in the beginning. It became important for us that no one was right and no one was completely wrong. If there was an easy answer to a scene, then we both agreed that it shouldn’t be in the film.
How did Trine Dryholm become involved?
We had hoped for her, but it was my first feature film. We approached her because [The Guest co-star] Josephine Park knew Trine, so she called her and asked her to read the script and then Trine agreed to meet with me. I was very nervous; I grew up with Trine Dryholm and the little boy in me who always dreamt about making films was like, “Oh my God, you’re meeting Trine Dryholm.”
In the first half hour of the meeting, I was just mumbling nonsense and the voice in my head said, “You’re talking too much.” But at some point, she looked at me and went, “Okay, I’ll do it.” There’s a reason she is great because she’s smart as well as a generous person and a human being. It was a big collaboration of making that character with a truly amazing performance, and I think she did a tremendous job.
She’s matched by Josephine Park and Simon Bennebjerg, who play her children.
I worked with Josephine and Simon on other smaller projects before. So when I had the idea, I was thinking to myself that they would go well together. They are both quick on their feet, good at improvising, and they have a fast-paced energy. They played a big part in evolving the sibling relationship in the movie. I think the thing I’m most proud of in this film was choosing the right people – they all make me look really good.
The film is ostensibly shot in one location. Does that create a different atmosphere from one where you might be going from place to place?
On the one hand, some things can be more difficult because you have to be more creative in how you are making things different and fresh, so you don’t just look at the same things all the time. But on the other hand, when the crew are at the same place all the time, it allows them to be completely focused. It’s a different beast and feeling. We gained a lot from being at one location. It also made the film cheaper.
What is next for you after The Guest?
I am working on a new project with Christian, he is writing as we speak. I’m also developing a crime television series.
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