Film Name: Everbliss Inn
Director: Kays Al-Atrakchi
Writers: Kays Al-Atrakchi, Krystyna Loboda
Starring: Rachel Hale, Julien Marlon Samani, Diane Worman
Jackson and Kate decide to spend a night at Everbliss Inn, an idyllic B&B in rural Georgia that hides a much more sinister façade beneath the surface.
‘Everbliss Inn’ has been selected to plat at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival on Saturday 20th January at 15:00pm
Q. Your film Everbliss Inn has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect from the film?
A. Everbliss Inn is a horror thriller short film which follows a young married couple traveling to go visit family. When they realize that they’re running late, they decide to make an impromptu stop at a lovely roadside bed-and-breakfast where they are greeted by Gwendolyn, the eccentric host of Everbliss Inn. I don’t want to say too much about the plot to avoid any spoilers, but I will add that once Jackson and Kate arrive at Everbliss Inn, their perception of reality begins to diverge, and so does their relationship. While there are supernatural and horror elements in the film, this is fundamentally a story about how two individuals can perceive reality in profoundly different ways. It’s a theme that I feel very much reflects the state of the world that we live in today, although I assure you that I am not trying to make political statement with it.
Q. You wrote the script with Krystyna Loboda. What was the process for you working together on the script?
A. Krystyna and I have very different approaches to storytelling, and the great thing of working together is that our strengths fill each other’s weaknesses. I tend to be more of a visual storyteller, so I like to focus on the larger story arc and the set pieces that I think will make it a compelling experience for the audience. Krystyna is much more interested in the inner psychology of the characters and their dialogue, she is a master at making them feel real. Krystyna was able to bring a lot of nuance to Jackson and Kate’s relationship as well as balance out Gwendolyn’s sinister influence with a considerable amount of humor.
Q. What were some of your influences when writing the script for Everbliss Inn?
A. I always loved The Shining in its ability to create this sense of inescapable isolation and impending doom, but also Misery and a bit of Salem’s Lot for the mythology behind Everbliss Inn. So basically Stephen King…lots of Stephen King.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. I love classic horror films from the 80’s that relied heavily on atmosphere to create a sense of dread. In particular The Changeling by Peter Medak was definitely a big influence on the look of Everbliss Inn. I was very particular about finding just the right location to shoot in because I really wanted to capture that look and feel of a modern gothic horror that The Changeling did so well. Thankfully our Atlanta producers Camilo Diaz and Aidan Guthrie found me a perfect house to shoot at about an hour North of Atlanta, Georgia.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. I think that the process of making a film is akin to a living and breathing organism that evolves as it grows, so change is an organic part of the creative process. When you get to sit with the actors and hear for the first time the words from the page take life, it’s natural to want to adjust things. For instance, sometimes an expression or a gesture from the actor can be far more powerful than a line of dialogue. Each night during production I would go back to my hotel room and adjust the script based on what we shot during the day, sometimes adding stuff but mostly taking things away that I felt were no longer necessary.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. It was a pleasure to work closely with all of the team members, and in particular cinematographer Chris Watkins who really understood the vibe I was going for. In particular we discussed combining the scene where Gwendolyn gives Jackson and Kate a tour of the Everbliss Inn as a single take shot on a steady-cam. I envisioned it like a well choreographed dance between the camera and the actors. It started out as wishful thinking, but Chris managed to make it happen. Watching that scene unfold on the monitor as it was happening in real-time was definitely one of the highlights of the entire shoot. Unfortunately during post-production, editor Federico Conforti and myself had to make the difficult decision to break up that sequence in order to keep the rhythm of the story moving forward.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. The awesome producers Daniel Myrick (who co-directed The Blair Witch Project) and Doug Fox made sure that I had all of the tools necessary to realize my vision, and thanks to them we didn’t run into any major issues. However, regardless of the budget, time is always the enemy — it’s just the nature of film production. On some of the days, we simply ran out of time and didn’t get as much coverage as I would have liked. Diane Worman who plays Gwendolyn is a force of nature and an absolute pleasure to work with, but unfortunately developed a really bad allergy to the special FX make up that we were using, so we had to rush through a lot of the scenes where she’s in the full scary make up. We also lost one of our exterior locations because another film production was shooting there at the same time — what are the chances?
Q. What makes Everbliss Inn stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. I hope that the audience will pick up on some of the humor that is interweaved into the story. What I absolutely love about Diane Worman’s take on the character of Gwendolyn is all of the quirky nuances that she injected into her performance, and to me that makes the character much more unsettling and sinister that if she had played it straight.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. I like to think that every film that I make works on two different levels. There is the surface level which is the basic story as it unfolds before the audience, and then there is another deeper level; the theme so to speak. On the surface Everbliss Inn is about the creepy and unexpected events that Jackson and Kate experience. However thematically, this is a very much a film about their relationship and how their desire to find happiness diverges in profound ways. I love when horror films work on multiple layers, and I hope that the audiences who watch Everbliss Inn will pick up on the more nuanced themes of the story, and perhaps find some connections with their own personal lives.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. Aside from Horror, I am deeply passionate about Sci/Fi and I am currently in development on two such projects. Fortuna is a feature film set on a faraway moon where the lone guardian of a remote military installation rescues a crash-landed pilot who is in possession of knowledge that could upend the fate of an intergalactic war. My second project is a short film set in deep space and is inspired by a 17th century opera. There is no dialogue in it and I am very excited about the challenge of conveying a complex and nuanced story without using a single word.
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. Aside from trying to talk them out of it? In all seriousness, the best advice that I can give anyone is the one that I give myself — go out and make the movie that you want to see really badly, and you wish someone would make but that nobody has yet. I realize that this might sound very selfish, but I think it’s important to first and foremost make something for yourself. Trying to second-guess what other people will respond to is a fool’s errand. Make something that speaks to you personally, make it the best that you can possibly make it, and then put it out there so that other people with similar taste will find it and enjoy it.
You can follow co-writer/director Kays Al-Atrakchi on instagram here:
‘Everbliss Inn’ has been selected to plat at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival on Saturday 20th January at 15:00pm
You can find out more about the festival and purchase tickets here:
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
