From writer and director, Henry Boffin, Strange Creatures is a dramedy in the vein of Nebraska and Little Miss Sunshine; a darkly humorous road trip film about the value of family and the pratfalls of masculinity.
Nate Taylor (Riley Nottingham) hasn’t spoken a word to his brother, Ged (Johnny Carr), in over four years, ever since the fateful night when he was discovered in bed with his older sibling’s fiancé. But when their mother passes away from a sudden aneurysm, the brothers must set aside their differences in order to fulfil their mother’s dying wish: to have her ashes scattered at the old family home in the country town of Narrabri.
Setting out across Australia in the only vehicle available to them – a black hearse – the boys soon realise that the trip will be anything but plain sailing. Spurred on by Ged’s destructive behaviour and their intense dislike for each other, a set of unfortunate events threaten to derail them from ever reaching their goal. But as they drift ever further away from reconciliation, Nate comes to understand that the only way they’ll ever fulfil their mother’s final wish will be to face the ghosts of the past head on, no matter how painful it may be.
As Strange Creatures releases in select Australian cinemas on November 21, Nick L’Barrow spoke with the films writer and director, Henry Boffin, about Henry and Nick’s past working at a local cinema together, creating a universal feeling through specific characters, and his personal connection to this story.
Nick: Well, I can’t believe how small the world can be!
Henry Boffin: It feels like just yesterday that we were cleaning up vomit from the carpets of a cinema. And now, here we are. It’s like Michael Mann’s Heat, isn’t it? This is like Al Pacino and Robert De Niro finally meeting [laughs].
Nick: I’ll take that! I love the comparison. But honestly, I remember when we did work together, and you were kind of on your way out of the cinema to pursue this filmmaking dream. And now, 10 years later, we’re talking about your first feature film, plus all the other projects you’ve done leading up to this. It’s awesome, it’s inspirational. So, congratulations, man!
Henry Boffin: Just a breezy 10 years later! It took the hard yards to get there. But thank you.
Nick: This movie is quite beautiful. I think movies, especially Australian movies, that explore and require men to be emotionally vulnerable in the way your characters are, is very special. So, I’d love to know where this story and these characters first originated for you.
Henry Boffin: I mean it’s interesting you say that, because obviously… I’m English. But I think a lot of that culture crosses over a bit. English people are quite well known for being quite reticent sometimes and keeping to themselves. But coming over to Australia, I guess that distance between me and my family added an extra layer of difficulty with talking about feelings, especially between the men in the family. It’s very much that idea of just checking in, but it stays surface level.
The seeds of the film started about 10 years ago, when I tried to embark on a road trip with my brother here in Australia. We did Darwin to Perth, and we gave ourselves 10 days. We thought that was ample time to do the trip in [laughs]. See the sights and watch them all blur past you as your drive the entire time without stopping anywhere. But, yeah, we were two dumb kids doing our thing back then.
But it was during a real tumultuous time in my life. A kind of moment where this nuclear family structure we had back in England had shattered. My parents had got a divorce, and my mum and brother had moved to Australia. And I remember thinking one night that it’s so easy to get comfortable with things when they’re in a certain way, and then it just become irreversible, almost overnight sometimes.
I think that gave me this intense, nostalgic outlook that is covered in the film, and in all my other work as well. That extends to this communication between families, and how families operate. I just find families across the country and globe fascinating. Sometimes, you have people who have literally nothing in common, who would probably never stay in the same room for more than 10 minutes if they weren’t bonded by this glue of family. It’s been a really interesting journey for me as well, connecting with my own family and exploring it for this story.
Nick: In that exploration of your own personal connection to this story, what did you find yourself more gravitating to as a storyteller – moulding your characters into a concept, or letting your characters make decisions that will dictate the journey and narrative?
Henry Boffin: I think it sometimes differs from project to project. I would say with this one, it was very much a character led story in that you want to find these nuggets of truth that will speak to audiences. The central three characters of the movie are the two brothers, and the mum. And they all look at like in completely different ways, and that propels a lot of the conflict.
The mum is constantly looking back on life with these rose-coloured glasses, tricking herself into thinking it was all a wonderful time. Meanwhile, the older brother, Ged, played by Johny Carr, he’s an alcoholic who is trying to stick to himself in the moment. He doesn’t want to think about the past, or the future. He wants to trap himself in the present. And then you have Riley [Nottingham]’s character, the younger brother, Nate, who ignores the present and past, and is purely thinking about what they’re going to do next and trying to move on from things.
I found it so interesting that one of the results of this movie is how many people have come forward and said that they have a Ged in their family. And I think it’s nice that people feel like they can talk about that. And Ged isn’t a character who is definitely fixed by the end of our story, but he’s got the most emotional scarring. So, it’s interesting to hear how many people that it’s hitting a nerve for.
Nick: There is such a relatability that comes from your film, and I spoke to a filmmaker a few years ago who told me that telling stories that people connect to so strongly is all about finding universality through specificity. There’s so much nuance in the relationship between Ged and Nate, and this is told through quite an inherently Australian lens. So, I’m curious to know how much conscious though goes into making this story feel so unique and specific, and how that helps it in turn feel more universal for audiences?
Henry Boffin: Oh, definitely. I think the wonderful thing about media in this day and age is that even if you’re creating something that is arguably niche, there’s such a great spread so everyone can experience that. There’s inevitably people who have had spookily similar experiences, and it hits them with this cathartic rush.
I mean, that’s what we want to do as artists. We want those bits that will make us feel like throwing up, whether it’s in a good or bad way! Those things that scare us, or make us shrivel up into a ball, or even dance with joy. You want people to be able to relate to that. I think that’s spot on. We sometimes think issues are so insular to us, or to our families, or to Australia. But it kind of bonds us together knowing those specifics are oddly universal in a comforting way. I think we all largely have the same issues.
Nick: Something I want to praise about your script is the ability to find levity in the mundane, or sad, or serious. Even though this film deals with darker themes, it’s quite funny! I think the funeral scene, and the mum’s letter being read out, and the way every chaotically reacts is hilarious. How important is it to you to find the levity and humour in those darker moments?
Henry Boffin: There’s been one cinema screening that I was in for where that scene got a great reaction. And I never expected it! It’s so interesting what everyone’s different take on comedy is. I’ve had some people tell me that’s their favourite moment of the film, this laugh out loud moment. The reading of the letter got the biggest laugh of the night. And it’s all props to Sophie [Ross] for the wonderful delivery of those lines.
But, to answer your question, I think you have to have the happy moments to feel the sadness. The juxtaposition of the two makes it cut deeper. The sad clown is the most poignant character in fiction because you’re meant to be laughing at it, and suddenly they make you cry, and you feel something much deeper than you expected.
The character of Jed in the film listens to a lot of reggae. And it’s interesting because I was having conversations with Melbourne reggae artist, Ras Jahknow, who provided all the music for the film, and we were having great conversations about how reggae is happy music born from sadness. That’s one of the reasons I wanted that to be the genre of music the Ged listens too, because it’s that idea of smiling through the pain. But, you’ve got to understand the pain to kind of know what the happiness is.
Nick: Things like that highlight the amount of nuance that these characters hold. I noticed little things like how Ged pours his hotel bar fridge alcohol into a mug to drink it, like he won’t drink it from the bottle. I’m curious to know how many of those nuances were in your script, and how many evolved from collaborating with the actors?
Henry Boffin: Yeah, like pouring the alcohol out was in the script. But working with Johnny and Riley was just absolutely fantastic. Like, for example, Ged wears an earring, just a little stud. And that came from Johnny coming up to me one day and saying he felt Ged would wear an earring. And it was something that had just never occurred to me for the character.
But we chatted through it, and I loved that it sort of gave Ged these past lives. He can come across as your traditional, slightly brutish, alpha male character, but something like that gives a glimpse into his past where he was an artist, which we do kind of show in the movie. That’s one of the conflicts that is going on with him.
I was a little hesitant at first, but he won me around. He just really felt like it was a part of his character, and he was absolutely right. I love when actors come to me with those ideas, because that’s what it’s all about, that collaboration. I want to get across what I want to say in the story, but you also want to be relying on these experts of their craft who are just providing some much, and giving so much, like Johnny and Riley did.
Nick: What did that collaboration look like when you have two characters and actors who have to have this antagonistic chemistry with each other? We have to believe there is a connection between them, but they also kind of have to be at each other heels a bit?
Henry Boffin: Yeah, that’s a good question. It’s one of those things where we had to shoot it very specifically, where they were kind of strangers, especially when the characters reunite. We did a lot of work early on when Johnny came over to Melbourne from Newcastle, but I did want to keep them distant for quite a long time. I didn’t want them to know each other too well.
And Riley loves going for coffees, and he’s such a sociable person, so I had to convince him to hold off for bit! And shooting something in order is a luxury. But I really wanted to paint it so that the initial reuniting, when they come to the house, was for the first time, and then work from there.
We did lots of exercises too focusing on Riley so we could find those points of contention. One of the things we did was during the scene where we find out his mum has dementia at the beginning of the film, and he’s kind of been left in Melbourne alone to look after her, I did this exercise where I got Riley to come in to the scene again, and again, and again, and again to the mum who doesn’t recognise who he is. And we just kept running that scene over and over, which was great for the dynamic with the mum.
But, when it came time for Ged to come back into his life, it was great for Riley to play on that built up angst and rage and fury about being the one who’s having to had been looking at mum this whole time while Ged is off burying his head in the sand.
Thank you so much to Henry for his time, and to Bonsai Films and TM Publicity for organising the interview. Strange Creatures is playing in select Australian cinemas from November 21.
