Today we’re speaking with John Darbonne the writer and director of the action/horror feature, Companion. I watch a lot of horror films, and this is one of the best I’ve seen in several years. The story follows a couple in a post-apocalyptic Texas where ghostlike companions stalk the survivors. In addition to being frightening and unpredictable, Companion also delves into themes such as the nature of companionship, death and the desire for salvation. Thank you for speaking sitting down with us.
Chris McClure, UniversalCinema Magazine (UM): First off, this was not a predictable story. I had no idea where we were headed at any time during the film. It must have been quite a task to write. Can you tell us about the writing process?
John Darbonne, (JD): Thank you. I appreciate you saying that. I’m into existentialism. I wanted to portray those familiar themes, then flip the switch and reveal it had been a fatalistic journey all along. We had limited resources on the film, so I wrote to locations that we had access to. I also wanted to write a story about why someone chooses to live after knowing they would be suffering while they did so. Why would someone go on? In the story the characters are forced to accept that there is no afterlife, so no weighting of the scales or judgment. If that was the case, why would they choose to form bonds with others. I intentionally left out much explanation about the Companions. It seems that everyone expects rules, but in reality what do we know about the rules of time and death? I wasn’t looking for either a happy ending or an unhappy one. I wanted it to be honest and let the audience fill in the blanks.
(UM): How long did it take?
(JD): It took about a year to write.
(UM): Were there many revisions?
(JD): Yes. Writing is re-writing. The script I ended up with barely resembles the first draft. I went through several mentorships with the script. I spent a lot of time developing it. Andrew Kersey (Kersey Management) was a tremendous influence as well as Justin Ross (Bohemia Group) and Dan Seco (Empirical Evidence). I did a month intensive with Andrew, then brought it to Dan and Justin for individual areas. Audrey Knox (Cartel) gave me some notes as well. The script was also developed through RoadMap Writers and was in Stowe Story Labs. It was a finalist in Screencraft Horror Screenplay Competition, won Filmmatic, and was ranked in the top 1% of screenplays for 2020/2021 on Coverfly.
I think Andrew is all about character. He dislikes a lot of spectacle and fights, he wants to focus on the journey and he really pushed it in those areas. Dan is great for the “is this interesting? Why am I watching this?” He helped bump it up on the intensity and opening. First 15 pages kind of stuff. Justin is great about the why? What did it mean? Where is the poetry?
(UM): The soundtrack was really great. Can you tell us about putting it together and what you were trying to achieve?
(JD): I appreciate that. I spent an unfathomable amount of time on BandCamp. I went through everything. I wanted it to be bluegrass/folk. I wanted it to be real. I wanted to sound flawed, like it was recorded in a barn. Then I came across Osi and The Jupiter. A viking folk band from Appalachia. Sean Kratz is simply amazing. He brings in natural sounds, you feel like you’re in the forest listening to a pagan ritual with a folk feel. It’s phenomenal. There is a reason his work was on the final season of Vikings. He liked the movie. I think he realized I was really passionate about it and signed on. From there, Lizzie No is wickedly talented, Kate Nyx is a badass, Dr. Bluegrass and the IllBilly 8… I just reached out to these artists and begged. They liked the film and it’s an awesome eclectic soundtrack. I have to mention that our composer Jeremy Nathan Tissler, did an amazing job as well. He had to create a score that made all of these different artists fuse. That entailed taking on Sean’s wicked guitar to Kate’s beat and everything in between. He’s awesome. I’m honestly as proud of the soundtrack as the movie.
(UM): The title, Companion, seems to be working on several levels. We’ve got the ghostlike beings, most obviously. But we also have to think about the nature of companionship in terms of couples trying to stay together through terrible times. Without giving too much away, can you tell us about the theme of companionship in this film?
(JD): Sure. An event in the beginning of the film forces two characters who do not know each other to journey into the apocalypse together. Both are dealing with extreme guilt and regret from their recent past. These two people are vastly different and have to learn to trust each other. They form an unlikely bond, and in my opinion, unrequited love is the most powerful emotion in cinema. They cannot be together, but they can be there for each other. Simultaneously, two other characters are on the same journey, only sinister. These two journeys mirror each other I think to point out what companionship is. The effects the people we surround ourselves with have on us.
(UM): There also seems to be a theme of salvation in the face of certain death. Everyone wants to go to a place called Bodega, but the characters also seem to be haunted by an inescapable fate. And there is a preacher character too. Could you talk a bit about these themes in the film?
(JD): As I mentioned earlier, Companion is a fatalist story hiding in an existential journey. There is no meaning in death. No weighing of the scales. Therefore are there no consequences in life? In the end, it asks a question about time. Is time a linear beginning to an end. If it isn’t, what is death? Would the ghost of a future death be bound to a linear timeline and only able to appear after they are dead? If not, then the story becomes Fatalistic. We die where we die. We’re always there. It’s unchangeable. The characters in Companion slowly discover their own demise and face it.
(UM): What was production like? Were there any surprises on set? How long
did it take to shoot?
(JD): Production was brutal. We shot in deep south Texas in the middle of summer. Most days were over 100 degrees. Some of the surprises was how difficult physical effects makeup is to work with. Apparently, they melt in 100 degree heat. It was hard on the actors. On our last day, we had two hours to shoot our finale. One of our actors was literally getting on a plane to start at a new theatre. Of course we were hit by a Texas storm. It was a full on deluge. We had to shoot in it. It couldn’t have been more perfectly timed for the movie. It ended up being epic and very fitting. The film gods shined down on us. That happens every once and a while. We had difficulties due to Covid. We planned to do two shoots, the first half in the summer and the second half that winter. Because of the shutdowns, we shot over a year and a half. 22 days in total. We were shut down once. We got lucky, we planned a shoot, but were calling it off then Texas opened up the restrictions for two weeks before shutting down again. With script writing and post production, I have worked on this film for nearly four years.
(UM): Can you tell us who your biggest influences were in terms of writing
and directing?
(JD): Writers: I’m into JG Ballard, Chuck Palahnuik, Norman Mailer, the Beats, the Romantic, Sylvia Plath. Screenwriters Paul Thomas Anderson, Yorgos Lanthimos, Paul Schrader Directors: Ridley Scott, Fincher, Jonathan Glazer (Rabbit in Your Headlights is what made me want to be a filmmaker), Spike Jonze, Tarantino, PT Anderson, Lanthimos.
(UM): It seemed to me that Abner was the only overall decent character in the film. Everyone else, including, arguably, Ella, were really only out for themselves when push came to shove. This wasn’t entirely true of Abner. Would you agree with that?
(JD): I would agree with that. Ella, I don’t think is a bad person. She’s dealing the best way she can and trying to learn to survive. Abner being that way was intentional. I think he is arguably the most violent, certainly enters the most viciously and is the most haggard soul. But somewhere in there, the good guy always manages to enforce the code he lives by. It’s all he has.
(UM): Do you think that Ella betrayed Gus?
(JD): Yes. There is a version of this film where she literally abandons him. I didn’t make that movie, but I can imagine someone facing those circumstances leaving. Having to watch your husband die, and then be haunted by his ghost as you slowly starve to death is a terrible choice to have to make. When you realize that she must see Abner as being extremely dangerous at that moment, then the gravity of that decision is even worse. Still doesn’t make it right.
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