STACK #202 Aug 2021

FILM FEATURE

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perspective on your own life, seeing the Earth from that distance.” Talking about his intriguing script, he says, “I didn’t write it to be a version of Lord of the Flies but once I got through a draft, I realised that some of the scenes were undeniable. At that point I could have either run away from that and removed all those Lord of the Flies connections, or I could lean into it. So, I decided to lean into it because I loved the book. I thought it was an important cultural reference for the movie,” explains Burger, no stranger to working with young casts having directed Divergent . “I had the idea for this a while before I did Divergent so, in a way, that was probably one of the reasons I did that film because I was interested in the idea of young people in these crisis situations.” His original idea for Voyagers was quite simple: “I built the story about young people confined on a spacecraft. Who are they and why are they there? And then I thought about these ideas of artificial insemination and if we want to get to this distant planet, who would be willing to go on this one-way trip? So, I thought of these young people as the first generation of a multi-generational journey to the unknown.” As father to a 19 and 22-year-old, Burger looked no further than home to get inside the mindset. “It’s a constant consultation with them and I learn so much from them and what they’re going through and how they evolve; what choices they make under certain kinds of pressure. It’s a case study in and of itself.” On set, he describes himself as a “lenient father” to his cast. “I give them a long leash because I want to see what they’re going to come up with. I’m very specific about what the scene is, so I nudge them into place and then let them run.” In the film’s earlier scenes, his task was much more difficult, as the young cast must appear emotionally stilted, almost autonomic. “It was hard work to take that youthful vitality out of them,” says Burger, who had his cast do meditation sessions where they learned to become still and quieten their energy. Launching his career directing commercials, Burger – who went on to direct Limitless , The Illusionist and The Upside – found himself in

• Voyagers is out on Aug 4

Writer-director Neil Burger discusses his new young adult sci-fi thriller, Voyagers , with STACK . Words Gill Pringle

E nlisting the cream of Fionn Whitehead ( Dunkirk ), Tye Sheridan ( Ready Player One ) and Isaac Hempstead Wright ( Game of Thrones ) amongst many others – writer-director Neil Burger blasted off with his cast for a once-in-a- lifetime experience in his new sci-fi thriller, Voyagers . With the future of the human race at stake, this crew of young men and women, bred for intelligence and obedience, embark Hollywood’s young talent – Lily-Rose Depp ( The King ),

Director Neil Burger andTye Sheridan on set

power, and the thrilling euphoria that goes with that experience.” A kind of Lord of the Flies in space, Burger spent months prepping his starkly visual set, all of the scenes taking place onboard a spacecraft bound for a new planet, even visiting Elon Musk’s SpaceX factory for inspiration. “We were allowed to hang out with the engineers and see what they were working on, literally designing and manufacturing the

on an expedition to colonise a distant planet. But when they uncover disturbing secrets about the mission, they defy their training and begin to explore their most primitive natures. As life on the ship descends into chaos, they’re consumed by fear, lust, and the insatiable hunger for power. “It’s about human nature in a vacuum – who we are at our core,” Burger tells STACK . “And about a group of extraordinary young people waking up to sensual desires, to freedom, to

rockets. It was impressive and so interesting to learn about next generation propulsion and space habitats,” says Burger, who longs to visit space. “It would be very powerful to have that

the employ of one of the pioneers of space exploration fantasy, Ridley Scott. The irony is not lost on him that he is now helming his own space thriller, but unfortunately, he never got to discuss the genre with Scott. “I was working at the company he owned but Ridley was doing

his own work, so he wasn’t around that often. Obviously, he is incredible and a massive influence.”

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16 AUGUST 2021

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