When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the streets, the predominant sentiment among those privileged enough to have a home was gratitude. We were grateful that we had a roof over our heads and food in our bellies to get through this difficult time. But, as the period of this home imprisonment started to stretch, our family members started to feel more and more irritating, and vice versa. Largely because we weren’t used to spending so much time together doing next to nothing, and that gave birth to the idea of living alone, away from any human contact, just to attain some form of peace. However, it seems the new Netflix film, Intrusion (2021), is here to puncture that dream.
The movie, featuring Logan Marshall-Green and Freida Pinto, is about a couple moving into a small town. But after suffering a home invasion, Meera (Pinto) starts to feel that the people around her are probably not who they seem. It is directed by Adam Salky, who has previously helmed Dare (2009) and I Smile Back (2015). I sat down with him virtually to talk about Intrusion, how his previous ventures had prepared him for this outing, and more.
Film Cred: From script to screen, what was the evolution process of Intrusion?
Adam Salky: I count myself as a very lucky director because I had an incredible screenplay written by the amazing Chris Sparling. When I first read it, it really just grabbed me by the shirt collar. It’s an incredible, very suspenseful story about a couple who moves to a small town to start a new phase of life after the wife survives breast cancer. And once they are in this town, the house gets broken into, twice in so many days. And the wife, played by Freida Pinto, starts to question why they moved to this town exactly and who everyone really is around her. The movie is about the terrifying unknowability of people and how that blindside with the people closest to you in your life can be even scarier than cancer.
FC: Was this completely shot during the pandemic?
AS: It was! Actually, Intrusion is one of, I believe, about a dozen films, maybe a little more, that were shot during the pandemic in the Fall of 2020. Obviously, before vaccines, everything shut down. I mean, normally, if there was no pandemic, there would be probably a thousand films shooting. But that shrunk all the way down to twelve, and we were one of them.
FC: Throughout this pandemic, since our homes have become an extension of ourselves, do you think it’s going to heighten the home invasion aspect of Intrusion?
AS: You nailed it! If you felt trapped during the pandemic, wait till you see this movie. The Meera character played by Freida Pinto finds herself pretty quickly trapped in this town, trapped with the people that all of a sudden she’s not sure if they are who they represented themselves to be to her. And also, once the home gets invaded, trapped inside the home, it really is. The film really is an extension of the anxieties of I believe everyone is feeling right now. I think this is why this movie is for this moment, right now. But it’s also entertaining. So, you know, we all kind of touch on some of the things that we’ve all been feeling over the last year and a half? Two years? My god, it’s all blending together. But it will entertain you along the way and keep you on the edge of your seat.
FC: There have been quite a few movies in the past on small towns being unwelcoming towards new residents. What were some of the influences while making Intrusion and what were some of the tropes you sought to avoid?
AS: That’s a great question, I grew up on thrillers. I love the genre so, so much. I just think that there’s something so fun to be held in suspense by a great thriller. And yeah, a little scared. But scared from the safety of your own couch that won’t have a home invasion later that night! But scared from the safety of your own home. I grew up on movies like Seven. Silence of the Lambs, which is not even a thriller in a way. It’s a film that transcends that genre because it is so good. Black Swan. There is a film called The Gift that I really loved. And so, I did think about those movies as I was making this film. But I always strive to bring something unique to the visual design of every film that I make. So you’ll see, when you watch the film, you’ll see aspects of the movie that live inside the thriller genre. But also a handful of things that will be totally unique to this movie that I am really proud of. And you can actually see a fraction of one of those things in the trailer where the camera is kind of turning on Freida as she’s walking through the house. It’s a lot that you’re not seeing there. But it’s one of the moments that I am really proud of while making the film.
FC: In your previous feature films, you had showcased a knack for creating an uncomfortable atmosphere via character dynamics. Have you cranked it to the maximum in Intrusion?
AS: Absolutely! Intrusion is really the natural extension of the films that I have made. So many of them, as you have pointed out, and thank you so much for watching them, that’s very cool, are really dramas. But they are dramas about these characters struggling to grow under incredibly intense circumstances. And some of the moments in those films are almost like a thriller, except that they are really suspenseful and I am interested in that dynamic of, you know, making the audience feel a little uneasy. A little held at that moment. And sort of leaning in and wondering what is going to happen next. That can happen in the context of a lot of cinematic genres. In the films that I have made, it has happened in the context of drama. So, I was really excited to be able to create those kinds of dynamics between Logan Marshall-Green and Fredia Pinto and Bobby Burke and other really wonderful local actors that we found in New Mexico, where we were shooting. But to do it in the context of a genre that is supposed to be about suspense. Because dramas aren’t necessarily supposed to be about that. I just have always been interested in creating that in the context of everything that I do.
FC: Since Logan Marshall-Green has some experience of being around weird houses, e.g. Upgrade (2018) and The Invitation (2015), did he have any tips for you during the making Intrusion?
AS: You know, it’s fascinating that in this film, just as a variation… I love those films and Logan always stuck out to me. Every time I see him in something, I just think, “My God, this actor is fantastic!” And he’s such a chameleon. He is always different in everything that he does. And you’re right. There is an aspect of some of these ideas of a home, safety of the home, in the films that you have mentioned. But the variation in this film is that it’s actually his home. And he is actually who designed it. And he designed it specifically for his wife and for them to have this new lease on life, now that she’s healthy. And then, unfortunately, of course, the moment they actually move in and everything is all settled, that’s when things start to become unsafe.
FC: You have almost treated the architecture as a character in your previous features. Did you strive to do something similar in Intrusion?
AS: Great question! The locations in filmmaking for me — the locations are always a character in a movie. And of all the movies that I have made, the location, the actual house, where Freida and Logan live is a crucial character in the story. And it was so important to me that it be something architectural, unique, perhaps a little unusual. And very specific. Because the character that Logan plays, Henry Parsons, that’s who he really is.
Finding that house was a really lucky thing. We shot in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the dominant architectural style there is something called Pueblo Revival. And it is a wonderful architectural style and you can see it in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. But it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. Because I wanted something so specific and architectural. So, it turned out that when we got there, the kind of house that I was looking for was actually almost impossible to find. And it turned out that our cinematographer, Eric Lin, one day was at a rental house and he knew that we were looking desperately to find this house. He asked the owner if he knew any modern homes in New Mexico. And he said, “Oh, my good friend owns this house.” Later that day, we went to that house and we walked in and we were just like, “Oh my god, this is it!” So, we found a literal nail in the haystack in Albuquerque.
FC: Your movies have usually taken the film festival route before opening to a wider audience. Intrusion though is directly opening to a wider audience via Netflix. So, how are your thoughts on that? What kind of reactions are you expecting?
AS: It’s a great question. I couldn’t be more excited to be working with a partner like Netflix to release this film. I have never released on a streamer before. So, you would have to ask me afterwards how it all goes. But already, you can tell that so many people are going to be able to watch the film and I am really thrilled by it.
As far as what audiences will take away, this film to me, as I said, is really about the terrifying unknowability of people. And I think that those kinds of questions of who the people you are closest to really are, to me, I find really intriguing. Because ultimately, you can never really know someone completely. We all have these different sides to ourselves. But it is what we put forward in that moment that makes us who we are. And that will be something that will be rattling around in people’s minds after they watch the film.
