The most daunting situation for those who seek refuge from the outside world in order to hide their dark secrets is to ultimately encounter a sinister remote environment with even more dangerous mysteries. That’s certainly the case for the two criminal brothers who are on the run in the new U.K. suspense crime thriller, ‘The Last Exit.’
After arriving at a secluded farmstead in the Scottish Highlands, the duo takes the resident family captive. However, the brothers soon discover the house holds even darker enigmas than they ever could have imagined. Those paradoxes include a fearsome family matriarch played by Golden Globe-nominated English actress Joely Richardson, who plans to turn the tables on her captors.
The horror movie was penned by first-time feature film screenwriter, Neil Linpow, who also stars in the project as one of the brothers, Jack. The drama was directed by genre veteran Matthias Hoene.
‘The Last Exit’ screened on Friday, October 20 during the 2023 Toronto After Dark Film Festival (TADFF). Hoene returned to the festival after he won the Audience Choice Gold award for his action horror comedy, ‘Cockneys Vs Zombie,’ in 2013. The filmmaker’s latest feature also won several awards at the festival, including Best Villain for Richardson for her role of Mama, and Best Supporting Performance for Harry Cadby for his role of Matty, one of the criminal brothers.
In ‘The Last Exit,’ Mama and her teenage daughter Maisy (Sadie Soverall) live and work on the secluded farmstead, where they care for Pa (Roger Ajogbe), who was paralyzed in a traumatic accident that also killed Mama’s son. While they all share close-knit relationships, each family member conceals secrets from the others.
Then, one stormy night, they hear a frantic knock at their front door. On the other side are the brothers. Matty begs for help, as Jack has been injured in a horrific car wreck while they were en route to the local ferry dock.
Despite her suspicions, Mama relents to her daughter’s pleas and allows the brothers inside to give them medical aid. But these visitors have secrets of their own, among them a stash of ill-gotten loot, a dead accomplice and a brutal crime lord in close pursuit.
Desperate to get their money and flee the country, the brothers take the family hostage, but are unaware that in doing so, they have disturbed a raging source of furious vengeance. As a result, family bonds are tested and loyalties are shifted, which culminate in a shocking conclusion.
Hoene generously took the time to sit down for an exclusive interview at Toronto’s Scotiabank Theatre, where TADFF was held, during the festival last month to talk about helming ‘The Last Exit.’ Among other things, the filmmaker discussed that he was in part driven to direct the project because he wanted to make a small, character-driven independent movie during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also shared that he appreciated being able to return to the Toronto-based festival, whose audience he described as being friendly, with ‘The Last Exit’ after he screened ‘Cockneys Vs Zombie’ there a decade ago.
Film Factual (FF): You directed the new horror thriller, ‘The Last Exit,’ which was written by Neil Linpow. What was it about his script that convinced you to helm the film? How did you approach directing the drama throughout its production?
Matthias Hoene (MH): Well, my second film was a European studio film, so I wanted to do something much more personal, smaller and character-driven for my third film. I had a few films in development after my second movie, and then the pandemic happened, so everything stopped. I used that time to make a bunch of short films and develop material.
I was talking to a friend of mine who I worked with at my commercials company, Neil Linpow, who’s an actor. He has also directed and written a few short films. He came to me and said, “Hey Matthias, why don’t we use this time to develop a feature film together that we can either do during the pandemic on a small scale, or just after, when things are starting up again, since the industry’s not fully back up and running yet?”
What I really vibed with him about is on our desire to create a character-driven, small-scale movie. My first two moves are crazy genre cross-overs with action, time travel and huge ensemble casts. I love doing that sort of thing, but I wanted to switch gears and make something that focuses on a few characters and their journeys. I wanted to create a more character-driven story.
I really resonated with Neil’s work because he’s an actor, so he’s all about characters. I’m all about fun spectacles and crazy high concepts. But together, I think we make a good combination.
We started chatting during lockdown and threw ideas around. We quickly locked in on two criminals who are on the run and seek shelter on a remote farm in Scotland, and then things go wrong. I love telling stores about crooks and criminals; I don’t know why, but I love the hustlers.
We got to a point where we put together a treatment, and then I sent it to my producers who I worked with on ‘Cockneys vs Zombies.’ They said, “This is cool; we can make this happen.”
So Neil went off to write the screenplay. It was his first feature film screenplay as a screenwriter, and he really knocked it out of the park. When the first draft came in, I was like, “I love this; it’s great.”
I then went off to do a TV show, and during that time, we also started packing the film. We then shot it last year. So it was a really nice thing that came out of the pandemic. Neil and I were a real tight-knit team. Also reuniting with the producers from my first movie made it a family affair.
It was a fun, great experience being on set with a small crew. I really loved doing it…I had a great experience making a really small film that I’m really proud of, and happy to be sharing with audiences.
FF: Speaking of the fact that the movie is a small, character-driven ensemble piece that features not only Neil, but also Joely Richardson, Sadie Soverall and Harry Cadby, what was the casting process like for the project?
MH: The casting was really interesting. With Joely Richardson, who I’ve really loved since ‘Event Horizon’ and ‘Nip/Tuck,’ she immediately came to mind for the Mama character in our film. We needed someone who’s both strong and soft. When she agreed to do it, based on the script, I was over the moon.
Watching her work was amazing. She was so focused and concentrated, and always delivering the best thing for the movie, which I really respect in any actor. Everything she came up with was about how we could make the scene better, and how we could improve how the character feels to the audience.
On the craft level, if she had to cry in a scene, on every single take, a tear would roll down her face in the same moment. It was incredible to watch that happen.
She was like a mentor figure to the other actors. We had some up-and-coming talent, like Sadie Soverall, who was on the Netflix show ‘Fate: The Winx Saga,’ and this was her first feature film. Her audition tape was head and shoulders above everyone else’s; it was incredible. Getting to work with her was fantastic. The emotion and passion she brought to her role of Maisy was amazing.
It was also Harry Cadby’s first feature film. He played Matty, which was really a difficult and sensitive role. The character is neurodiverse, which is a really sensitive subject to tackle. So we worked with a sensitivity advisor for a year, to make sure we were creating the character right.
Harry did an amazing job with his acting, and was really method about it. He was very much in character the whole day.
Then with Neil, he had previously done some smaller supporting roles as an actor, but this was his first really big leading role. I thought he did an amazing job bringing all of these emotions to the character.
That was something that was very different for me as a director on set. Something people don’t really talk too much about is how the energy you bring to a set influences how a film turns out. As director, you try to bring a positive, can-do attitude energy to the set. Everyone is inclusive and trying to make this crazy thing that is a movie, which is difficult.
But when it comes to the scene work and you have a tense scene and a tense, vulnerable character, as a director, it’s not so much the verbal things you give the actors, it’s the energy you give them. When we’re filming a tense scene, I’m tense, which helps the actor keep and bring that emotion to the scene.
On this film, which is very tense, dark and twisted, it was a somber set. It was also amazing to see how all of that came out in the eyes and feelings of the actors. I was very proud of all the actors, including ahow much truth and emotion they brought to their characters. That was a really special experience for me.
Every actor needed their own style to bring out their characters, whether they were method or really well prepared in advance. It was a privilege to be in that environment with them, and work with all of these talented artists.
FF: Once the actors signed on to star in ‘The Last Exit,’ how did you work with them to create their characters?
MH: We did read-throughs during the script development. Due to COVID, we did a lot of things online, through Zoom, at first. We then did a big read-through once we were able to get together in person. We talked a lot about each character and the actors’ interpretations about them.
The film you see is pretty much the way the story was scripted. I cut one scene, and maybe a line here and there.
Neil did a great job on the script; he did an incredible job in creating the story. Overall, the script was tight.
We didn’t prepare too much in advance because we didn’t want to over rehearse it. When you over rehearse scenes, they’re never the same. When you’re on set, emotions are raw and you have everything you need for the scenes, which makes them feel more real.
Since the script was tight and the actors were hand-picked for the roles – I knew they were all right for their roles, and would bring their A games – we could feel the genuine emotions on set, which we captured on camera. So we didn’t have too many rehearsals, so that we could feel a realness when we were on set.
FF: Besides working with the actors on their characters’ emotional arcs, how did you approach collaborating with them on creating their characters’ physicalities and the action sequences?
MH: With an actor’s physicality, there is a difference between what a character says, thinks and does. When you find that difference, it feels good because you can see that there are so many things going on. That adds a complexity and layer to the character. We tried to create those layers using the physicality. All of the actors brought those layers to their characters.
There were also the props and costumes that helped create the characters. The jackets, trousers, skirts, dresses, shoes and whatever else they wear, as well as the bags and other props they use, expresses who they are and build the characters’ physicalities.
In some cases with Neil’s character of Jack, we use his physicality to show how much pain he’s in throughout the film. That spans from the beginning of the story to when he’s bleeding to when he’s stitched up to when his stiches break up and he’s bleeding again. So through that, you know how much pain the character’s in physically in each scene.
All of the characters go through a transformation. Maisy goes from being an innocent girl in a young woman’s body to finding out what the world is really like. As we track that throughout the story, her confidence increases.
It’s the same thing for Matty; he starts off as a frayed character who’s completely out of control. Not to give anything away, but he has a twisted happy ending, and is one of the happiest characters by the end.
It’s my job, along with the script supervisor (Abi Jarvis), to make sure we go through the story, scene by scene, to make sure we know how each character feels. It’s my job to remind everyone of that, and make sure everything tracks, since we shot out of sequence. Tracking the physical changes is sort of the fun of making a film.
With the action sequences, I treat them like a story, and make sure they have a beginning, middle and end. I also try to throw in fun props…I also like to play with each actor as they try to figure out how to win against the other actors. Using props and physicality make those sequences feel like a dance that has fists and guns.
On this film, I worked with a great stunt coordinator (Dan Styles). We thought about the coolest thing we could do in each setting, which is one of the best things about filmmaking. (Hoene laughs.)
FF: The majority of the thriller takes place in Mama and her family’s house and surrounding farm. What was your experience securing, and shooting on, the film’s location?
MH: It’s funny; the film’s set in Scotland, so we were like, “We have to film in Scotland.” But when we started looking, we couldn’t quite find the right farmhouse in Scotland. There’s also the logistical side of putting up people in a hotel, which isn’t so easy when you want to shoot in the middle of an island in the middle of nowhere.
So we then looked at a few houses in London. The first one we looked at was this beautiful farmhouse. It housed two generations of farmers, and the parents had passed away about ten years ago. But their family kept the house exactly as it was then after all these years.
As we were walking around the house, we thought, this is a really easy location. But we thought, this is too easy, since this is the first house we’re looking at, but we could make it work. It’s a real working sheep farm, so it looks great. But it’s the first house we’re looking at, so we’re obviously not going to shoot here.
We then kept looking, but at every house we visited, we thought, this isn’t as good as the first one. So we ended up shooting in the first house.
We’re really grateful that the farmers let us shoot there. We lived there for about four weeks and made it our home.
It needed to be a big farmhouse that felt like there’s always something around the corner you didn’t know about. I loved the layers of the location, including all of the doors in all directions. The house is a character itself, and there’s mystery around every corner.
FF: ‘The Last Exit’ is screening here at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. What does it mean to you that the drama is screening here at the festival?
MH: Since my first movie, ‘Cockneys vs Zombies,’ premiered here in Canada 10 years ago, it was really nice to come back here to Toronto (with ‘The Last Exit’). I’ve filmed commercials here many times before and I love the city. Being here with ‘The Last Exit,’ and having such a friendly audience, is really special.
Making a movie is so hard. There’s so much passion and pain that goes into the work over several years.
I realized with my first film that going to a festival and sharing it with a live audience of fans makes all of that struggle worth it. It gives you the strength to make the next one.
If you just release a film onto a streaming service, and God Bless if you do, it doesn’t give you the same emotional gratification. It’s so nice to share your films with live audiences. That’s what I really appreciate about being here at TADFF. Sharing your film at a festival is such an important moment…it makes you realize that you put a real artifact into the world. I hope I’ll be back with my next film!
Film Factual 