'It Comes at Night' Director Trey Edward Shults: 'People Scare Me'

Trey Edward Shults burst on the film scene last year in a big way with a little film. That was "Krisha," a project he wrote, directed and starred in along with his aunt, mother and grandmother. It was also shot in his parents' Texas house over 10 days for $100,000. It is, though, far from a home movie; in its rigorously cool look at family dysfunction that plays like a horror movie.

It is isn't surprising then that the 28-year old's next project is a horror movie -- "It Comes at Night," but one that plays like a family tragedy. In a review of the film in the New York Times, critic A.O. Scott put it this way: "Mr. Shults's first feature, the remarkable 'Krisha,' was a family drama that often felt like a horror movie. 'It Comes at Night' is the reverse. There are obvious differences of style and tone - 'Krisha' was talky and busy; the new film is taciturn and austere - but the director's preoccupations are as consistent as his sensibility. In both cases, people are thrown together in a house by circumstances they don't control, and how they will deal with it all becomes an ethical text with stakes high enough to implicate the audience as well as the characters."

"It Comes at Night" features a familiar dystopian trope: the world is infected with a mysterious and deadly virus and its inhabitants hide from each other in order to survive. To protect themselves, a family (Joel Edgerton, Carmen Ejogo and their son Kelvin Harrison Jr.) has barricaded themselves in an abandoned home. Their protected existence are disrupted with the arrival of another family (Christopher Abbott, Riley Keough and their young son Griffin Robert Faulkner) arrive in need of shelter. Do they welcome them in or shun them?

EDGE spoke to Shults about "Krisha," how he made his new film and what scares him.

EDGE: 'Krisha' is such an amazing film, not the least of which because the performances by your family members and friends are so believable. Most notably is your aunt (Krisha Fairchild) in the titular role. She is so good that I was sad not to see her in this film. Was she too much of a diva to take a role?

Trey Edward Shults: (laughs) Thanks. Anyone who loves 'Krisha' makes me happy. And no, Krisha is not in the new film. There was just no role for her. Sadly there were fewer characters than in 'Krisha.' But it was a conscious thing that I had to challenge myself as a filmmaker. I couldn't do another movie with family and friends right after that one. I couldn't shoot at my mom's house again or anything like that. I had to push myself as a filmmaker. That being said, I would love to have her in my next movie.

EDGE: Was it noticeably different working with professional actors this time around?

Trey Edward Shults: It wasn't that different because Krisha, regardless that she's my aunt, is an incredible actress. She's a pro. She knows how to hit marks and everything else. And so much of that movie is around her. And my mom's an actress. She just doesn't know it. My friends are great. I just did it because I was forcing them to do it. Obviously when I am filming my grandmother and she doesn't quite comprehend she's in a film, it's a totally different circumstance.

But in general, with 'Night' I not only wanted good actors but what I thought were good human beings. People that were not only excited about being in the movie and working with me, but just good people that I wanted to be around. The goal with this was even though we didn't know each other -- cast and crew -- at the start, I wanted to build a creative family together. After the first couple of days, it was that. By the end of the first week, it didn't feel any different than 'Krisha.' It was just a new story we were telling that required different things.

EDGE: What was it like moving from a microbudget to a more substantial one?

Trey Edward Shults: It was a baby step because the movie is still pretty contained and we didn't have a huge budget. We had all the challenges that happen that you need to problem-solve. When you're in the trenches, you're in the trenches; and that's kind of how it felt. That being said, going to set the first day, or always the beginning of each week, I was nervous. But once you get into it and you are doing the work, it all comes together and you're just making a movie.

EDGE: You have worked on films with Terrence Malick and Jeff Nichols. How influenced were you by them in developing your style?

Trey Edward Shults: I don't know. But good question. I love their work and I think they're brilliant filmmakers. I hope what rubbed off from Terry is not shooting in a totally orthodox manner. What he does is totally different than anyone else. His energy is incredible; to me he like a big kid that's excited to discover new things and push forward. I didn't work with Jeff that much, but he's an incredible person. He found out everything about me and made me sent him my short film and all this stuff. And apart from that, I love their films. I love them as filmmakers, so I wouldn't be surprised if there stuff just rubbed off on me.

EDGE: The film draws you into this claustrophobic world. We've been in this apocalyptic place many times before, but you manage not only to make it scary, but seem fresh. How were you able to do this?

Trey Edward Shults: A lot of it is intuitive I think because of how personal the stories are and where they come from. When I am writing it, I know the emotion I am trying to evoke, whether that's dread or claustrophobia or whatever -- the unease. With 'Krisha' and this, that's how I felt and that's just what made sense to convey in the film grammar. Here the technique, though, is subtler than in 'Krisha.' The goal was to bring you into this thing in a way that it slowly makes you feel uneasy. I think I approach it more on an intuitive level. What feels right.

EDGE: I've read where this film was influenced with your relationship with father. Can you elaborate?

Trey Edward Shults: It did, but the relationship with my dad also inspired things in 'Krisha' as well. He struggled with addiction his whole life and he was good for a big portion of my life, then he fell off the rails and our relationship was cut off. I didn't see him for 10 years. Then he got pancreatic cancer and I went to him on his deathbed. He was so full of regret for everything, and he wasn't ready to let go. I was trying to help him find peace. It is the closest I have come to death and one of the most traumatizing things I have gone through. My life changed after that. It is one of those things that happen in your life that changes you. Some months after that, in hindsight, in an act of grief I started writing the opening scene, and this fictional story poured out of me. At first, I didn't even know why exactly this story and why all of this, but it just spieled out and it felt like a purge. I would cry. Then in hindsight, I see so much. When I watch parts of it, it brings back my head and where I was at and it is really the fears that I was battling. All of that translated into this fictional narrative.

EDGE: You also have said the film was influenced by the novel 'Lord of the Flies?'

Trey Edward Shults: It is, but it wasn't a conscious one. That was a book I was forced to read in high school and I loved it and it haunted me. It is one of my favorites. Instead of choirboys, there are two families or two tribes; and instead of an island, it was this house in the middle of nowhere.

EDGE: Is the movie about the limits of trust? That is, how much can you trust another person in a situation fraught with danger as they are in this film?

Trey Edward Shults: Here's the thing: the movie is left open intentionally to all kinds of interpretations. There are certain things left unanswered. It is designed to have this openness to where I hope it gets people to take different things. I remember Joel Edgerton, who plays Paul in the movie, saying for him it was about otherness and immigration; and you see it as trust. For me a lot of stuff is in there, but the one I fall back on personally is fear and fear of the unknown; and all the different aspects of that. And for me the ultimate unknown is death. And how that kind of fear can penetrate us and tear us apart. All that stuff is in there, but I hope depending on what kind of person you are and whatever you want to take, there is something that you take and it is yours.

EDGE: You said that it is not a monster movie, but is about people. Are the people the monsters?

Trey Edward Shults: Who is to say? I think all the people in the movie are just humans trying to do their best. But people scare me. What people can do scares me. I don't know. I will leave it at that.

EDGE: Are there any movies that scare you?

Trey Edward Shults: Oh, yes. But for this film I drew on for this movie is 'Night of the Living Dead,' 'The Thing,' and 'The Shining,' those combined with family dramas and other stuff I dig. Those in particular -- and 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre' -- it shook me to the core when I first saw it. But to harp on the three movies I mentioned first, it is what this 'thing' does to these people. Whether it is a ghost or a monster or a zombie, it is what that creates for the power dynamics of these people. I think that's what scares me.

EDGE: The film has an intense claustrophobic feel that reminded me of Roman Polanski. Was he an influence?

Trey Edward Shults: He wasn't for this movie. He is a less than conscious reference, but I love Roman Polanski, so it would be natural fit. For 'Krisha' I was actively watching his movies, 'Repulsion' and 'Rosemary's Baby' before I made it. So he was much more actively an influence on it, but not in this one so much. But I am sure he's there as well.

EDGE: It is great to see Christopher Abbott with such a good role. How did he get cast?

Trey Edward Shults: He is so good. I have been a fan of a lot of things he's done, particularly I remember seeing 'James White' and he blew me away. Initially that role was written for an older guy, so I thought Chris was too old to play the kid Travis, but too young to play Will. Then it just clicked for me. I was like, Chris is Will. Younger is more interesting, and we hit it off. It was just beautiful. It was smooth and perfect. I love Chris. I think he's insanely talented.

EDGE: Also Riley Keough continues to be a revelation. She has a moment when she screams in this film that is heartbreaking. How was she cast?

Trey Edward Shults: So Riley. I didn't know her work at all. And I got sent 'The Girlfriend Experience' and I binged watched the entire thing in a day. And I thought, a lot of women don't have great roles like that and she killed it. I was fascinated by her. Then I saw 'American Honey' and she was totally different and once again great. I was more fascinated by her. Then I Skyped with her and she wasn't what I expected. She was just chill and earnest and honest and great.

She blew me away the first time I heard her do that scream -- it is the sound you never want to hear. And hearing it echo through the woods, it just broke my heart. The whole crew, I know I cried. That awful sound.

EDGE: Though it is billed as a horror movie, 'It Comes at Night' is heart-rending family drama that stays with you days after seeing it...

Trey Edward Shults: It is for me, man. I think it is by design. They can't be 100 percent planned, but I hope that this movie was designed in a way that, I hope, sticks with you and can't shake it off right away.

EDGE: So many interesting directors, such as yourself, are working in television these days. Is that next for you?

Trey Edward Shults: I am open to whatever. I don't know. Maybe it's television. Maybe it's movies. I am trying to write a new movie thing, but there is great television going on.

"It Comes at Night" is in theaters. Watch the film's trailer below: