We all like a good chiller us FrightFest fans and this year we've got a twisted tale based on a classic urban myth, Will Canon's The Confession. Here he talks about this chilling movie.
NYX: We last saw your work at FrightFest 2015 when you brought Demonic. What have you been up to since then?
WC: Great question. I’ve been trying to get movies made and this was the first one that came together. I was really close on at least two other things that I thought were going to happen, but then one element or another would go sideways. One was with the financier and the other was with cast. I’ve been developing projects to direct myself, and writing scripts for other people, but ultimately, this one was the first one that came together for me to direct and I’m glad that this was the one.
NYX: Where did the idea for The Confession come from?
WC: I really liked the idea of a character discovering a secret about someone they love after that loved one passed away. And the person who died isn’t there to give any color or context to the secret. My dad passed away in 2020, and I had written the first few drafts of the script by then, but when he passed, I was going through his things I found all kinds of old letters and different things about his life that I would have loved to ask him about and know more about. So, the idea didn’t necessarily come from that. But it helped me to understand the longing that someone would have to understand something they’re finding out about a loved one (either good or bad) after that loved one passed.
NYX: Did it take long to write, and did you have a cast in mind?
WC: The script did take a long time to write, and I went through a bunch of different versions of the story. In the first few drafts, the main character was a writer and when she finds her father’s confession, it was a written confession. And then that evolved to being a confession that the father has recorded on a cassette tape and then I thought it would be fun if she was a musician and that’s part of why he would leave her an audio recording to find. And then the pied piper element came to mind, and it fit with the music and audio elements of the story. So, I wrote a bunch of different drafts and did a lot of re-writing, especially during the pandemic. I didn’t really have specific actors in mind when I was writing The Confession. I had worked with Scott Mechlowicz and Terence Rosemore before and love both of them as actors and as people, so when we started casting it, they definitely came to mind at that point, but I wasn’t necessarily thinking of anyone as I was writing it. And then I met Italia Ricci and Zachary Golinger as we started to cast the movie and absolutely loved both of them and their performances, so I felt very lucky on this one.
NYX: Was it all shot on location?
WC: I’d say 95% of it was shot on location. There were a few things that we just couldn’t do as written at a practical location, so we built the inside of the attic in a school gymnasium where we were shooting. We actually shot at the same school that they used in Scott Derrickson’s movie, The Black Phone. That same school was our school and then we used it for a few other locations in the movie as well. And then we had some water work in the movie that we shot in a swimming pool as a double for the body of water in the movie.
NYX: The movie has an outlandish premise but done completely straight, how did the cast prepare for such a fantastical movie?
WC: It’s such a great question – I don’t really know how they prepared for playing it straight, but I think they all just really got the tone from the beginning. I think through our conversations they understood what I was going for and they’re all such naturalistic performers that we were all just on the same page pretty easily. Terence did tell me at one point that I gave him some direction about how I wanted him to play the character that was completely different than how he had prepared, but he went with it. Also, getting back to the premise for a second. I think it sounds fantastical, but when my dad passed away and I was going through his things, I found a bunch of old Super 8mm films of my dad as a child and of my aunt, his sister. A couple of short clips from those Super 8 films made their way into the film when Harling is talking about the town’s history. But I bring it up to say that there were a few rolls of film that were not developed, and I hadn’t seen any of them until I got them back from the lab. But before I got them back, my brain was going, “What if there’s something crazy on these film rolls? Could I get in trouble for having them?” But that’s probably the genre director part of my brain coming up with ideas. Ha!
NYX: It has a wonderful Twilight Zone feel to it, were you a fan?
WC: I actually haven’t seen that many episodes of the Twilight Zone. I’ve seen the most iconic ones, but I wish I could say that I’ve seen more.
NYX: How much of the budget went on effects as there’s some really cool moments?
WC: Thanks so much. I don’t know off the top of my head how much went toward effects, but we certainly tried to do as much practically as we could. And then we had a great visual effects company called Soap Box who did our VFX, and they really brought their A game and created some fantastic stuff for us. They did all the rat stuff. Dave Jacobson and Chris Alender spearheaded that from a VFX standpoint at Soap Box, and they were great.
NYX: How would you describe the movie?
WC: I describe it as a fun, scary movie with some dark humor sprinkled in for good measure. And then I say it’s a modern twist on the story of the Pied Piper that’s set in rural Texas.
NYX: I love the score, any chance it will get a release?
WC: Thank you! I love it as well. That’s Dan Marocco who has done the music for all three of my features and has done the music on my films going to back to the short films I did at film school. I think there’s a good chance that it’ll get released. We don’t have any plans yet, but I think there’s a good possibility that will happen.
NYX: All your films are very different in theme, is this deliberate?
WC: It’s not necessarily deliberate. I usually start with a story idea and then I go from there and I typically discover the theme as I work on the script. So, I don’t usually start with a theme. Brotherhood and The Confession were my original ideas so those are the two that I’d say I’m most connected to, thematically. Demonic was an original idea by James Wan that a few writers had worked on by the time I got my hands on it. So, with that one, I was teasing out the theme for myself after several versions of the script existed.
NYX: Do you believe in urban myths and legends?
WC: I don’t necessarily believe in them per se, but I love them. And when I say I don’t believe in them, it depends on what they are. I would say I don’t usually believe in them, because I’ve looked into enough of them to understand that a lot of them are wildly exaggerated. But I think there’s usually some truth to some of them and that’s kind of what makes them fun. That you can take a small part that’s true and people use their imaginations to create some wild, fantastical story.
NYX: Will you be nervous when the movie has its international premiere at FrightFest 2025?
WC: I get nervous walking down the street, so I’ll definitely be nervous at FightFest – ha! But the movie has played at several festivals in the United States, and it’s played really well, and people seem to be responding to it, so maybe I’ll be more excited than nervous.
NYX: So, what are you up to at the moment?
WC: I’m working on a new script that’s based on a horrible travel experience that I had going back home after I shot The Confession. I’m working on a version of it that melds that true story with a genre-y element. And then I’m working on a thriller that’s about a couple of young, American businessmen who get stuck in Russia at the outset of the war in Ukraine. It’s a really cool thriller where the script is finished. We’re trying to put that one together now.
NYX: Will Canon, thank you very much.
WC: You’re very welcome. Thanks for the great questions!
