Growing up undeniably sucks. Even more so when things are complicated by a vicious child killer on the loose in your neighborhood. Following a screening of the suspicious neighbor nightmare Summer of ’84, I was able to get the masters of modern nostalgia (does that make sense?) RKSS (Roadkill Superstars) on the line.
Editors note: RKSS is/are a French Canadian directing collective comprised of Yoann-Karl Whissell, Anouk Whissell, and François Simard.
Byron McKoy: I actually just finished Summer of ‘84, really charming film. Also kind of mean.
Yoann-Karl Whissell: Yeah (laughing). We apologize.
Don’t EVER apologise for that, but for those…
Y: We’re Canadian!
…for those who haven’t been so lucky, could you share a little bit about the Summer of ‘84?
Y: To me, Summer of 84 is a metaphor for growing up. These four boys are in that weird age where they’re not kids anymore, and they’re not totally adults. So they still play hide&seek, but they’re starting to get into the girl next door, and it’s that weird age where you don’t really know how to act? And if it’s a metaphor on growing up, growing up sucks. Like, it is literally the worst thing in the word. We, the three of us will be etineral teenageers. I want to keep it that way. Paying your bills is not cool.
Anouk Whissell: I think it’s also about your neighbor, and how you don’t know what’s happening behind their doors. That moment in the mid-eighties, when the false security of the suburbs started shifting into danger, and the crime began to infest. You could hear more on the news about children being abducted, about serial killers. It just all became real at that moment.
François Simard: Definitely. The end of the “American Dream”
Y: Like, Regan was about to get into office. You know, the War on Drugs. What are our neighbors doing? Is he like, making cocaine in his basement? Being afraid of everybody.
You mentioned that you feel like you’re all going to eternally be “teenagers”. Let’s focus on you folks for a second. I’ve spoken with several directorial duos, but you’re my first trio. I’m very interested, how does that work? Are there things that each of you specialize in, and how do you avoid stepping on each others toes?
Y: We each have our strengths, but at the same time we still do everything together. We split up, but we still kind of director together because we talk about everything behind the monitor.
F: Yeah, i know. It’s very unusual, it’s not for everybody but we’re basically family. We began to make short films like more than fifteen years ago, as a group of friends. And we just wanted to keep that spirit, of making movies with friends. We had to learn to unset, to split, just to avoid confusion. If someone, if an actor has a question and they don’t know who to talk to, uh, we have a problem. Yoann will be with the actors. He’s the one with the loudest mouth.
Y: I talk a lot!
F: Anouk will be with every head of department. And I’ll be behind the cameras with the DP, and the storyboard’s in had
A: Yeah, we are all also talking a global look of what’s being made, to make sure that our common vision and everything is intact. We also come in super prepared, so that’s why it’s possible for us to split while still going in the same direction. And also, we like to say to everybody on set, the crew and the cast that if ever they had a question, they could ask either of us and they would still get the same answer. Just to avoid any confusion, that’s why we…each one of us is a resource.
[customfont1]A 666-Character Review Of ‘Summer Of ’84’[/customfont1]
So your relationship goes way back! And it seems to have developed into a very specific style of filmmaking, which continues in Summer of ‘84 although this is the first time directing a film that you didn’t write. How did you come to the project, or how did the project come to you?
A: We were in LA for the LA premiere of Turbo Kid in 2015, and we met with Matt Leslie, one of the writers. And it was kind of by chance cause we were supposed to meet his boss, but his boss was elsewhere. So he said “Do you still want to do the meeting”, and hang out with him? We started just talking and discovered we have the same interests in cinema. Also, he was a huge fan of Turbo Kid, and he had this idea for a script with one of his friends. It was an idea that was super personal to him, very much a passion project, and so he said like, “You guys would be the perfect people to do it”. He just pitched us the idea that day, and we were completely in. And when we saw the script, it was written like it was written just for us. It felt so personal to us as well. I think it was just…just something meant to be.
Y: And what we found out is that, wherever you grew up in the 80’s, teenagers were the same.
F: Yeah, I would add that it’s really the ending for us that set it apart. This isn’t to jump in, we knew that this movie would be different than the others, and that people would be remembering this movie after watching it. So that’s why we jumped in. And I have to say, this was 2015. There was nothing like it on the market. As we know, this changed, but we’re happy that we were still able to have made this movie.
I think what you guys have done, although there have been film in the more recent history that I guess have similar themes, I think this is something special. Especially the endling like you mentioned, really sets things apart. Both of your features, this, and Turbo Kid drenched with nostalgia . To me, Turbo Kid feels like a film you could have watched in 1984, and now this about kids that very well could have spent the summer watching films like that in a basement. You started into this a bit but could you talk a little bit more about your personal connection to the film, the story being set in this era, and in particular the kids?
Y: I think it comes from the fact that we grew up on these kids of films. We used to rent so many VHS. We had a video store that would rent seven movies, for seven days, for seven dollars. We would watch them in two days, bring them back and rent seven more. I don’t know, I think we’re infused with all the movies we grew up on because…we love them.
F: Yeah!
Y: It all comes from a place of love, especially if we talk about Turbo Kid. The old Itallian rip-off of Mad Max, we love those films. It comes from a place of love.
A: There was some kind of, I feel like, magic in the storytelling from the 80s. They rhythm was different, and all the FX were real. They were practical. It was very special. There were quite a few traits that we don’t see anymore.
F: They would trust the audience more in the 80s. And I think we miss your years. We miss those movies, and I guess we want to recreate our childhood because…growing up sucks, like we said.
Well you nailed it on the head. Also, you had a great cast to help you along the way. Graham, Judah, Caleb, Cory, they all did such an amazing job representing that time in life. Incredibly authentic performances. What was it like working with a group of young actors like that?
Y: Just for myself, I think I was a big brother for a summer, which was fun. They were awesome. We just had a great time. They tell you when you start making films, “Oh, never work with kids or animals”. Well, we love working with kids, we had a blast. Those four boys were amazing professionals that worked so hard everyday. They were so not only teachable, but directable. Like, it was easy to have very complex conversations about some of those emotions, and they would internalize those emotions, and just, it shows on screen.
F: And that god because, the schedule was insane, it’s a small budget, we didn’t have the time to… Sometimes we only had time for two takes and they would nail it the first time. We’re really happy to have those kids. And if I can add, we did give them some homework. Tons of 80s movies to watch just to get the feel. They didn’t have cell phones. I remember when we talked to Graham, and we said that we were the last generation to go to school without social media, and he was like, “WHAT?”.
I’m right there with you! There was a line that Davy said that I really love. “Even serial killers live next to somebody…”. It’s undeniable that true crime is bigger than ever, and it creeps around this film, as well as Montreal, where you guys are from. You’ve got a handful of monsters of your own. Are serial killers something that interest you and did you draw any specific influence in particular?
Y: Uh, yeah! I’m really into true crime, especially serial killers. There’s a lot of it that got into Summer of ‘84. What always fascinates me is guys like Ted Bundy, or John Wayne Gacy that were…they were not weird. They would hide in plain sight. Like John Wayne Gacy would dress like a clown. Some of his neighbors hired him for their children’s parties. Ted Bundy had a family. He had kids. There’s something fascinating about those monsters, terrifying monsters because real life is much more scary than what we can do in movies.
Especially when they could be your neighbor
Y: Yes! Right next door and in the suburbs. They just, look like normal people. That person that you see mowing his lawn in from of the house…his basement might be crawling with bodies.
F: What is the expression… wolves in sheeps clothes?
Y: Yeah, exactly.
Y & F: So creepy.
Y: You know in Canada we have our fair share, especially in the province of Quebec we’ve become world renowned for serial killers. (Karla) Homolka was something very very scary. She ended up killing her own sister, and filmed it. That’s fucked up!
It really is.
Y: Terrifying.
Well before I let you go, can I ask what are you working on right now, what’s next for RKSS.
Y: We have multiple projects brewing.
F: We don’t know which one would be first, our third feature, but we’re attached to a zombie project. Uhhh, Tubro Kid 2, we’re writing it as we speak.
Y: We adapting a horror comic book, the script. Many, many things.
F: And some stuff we can’t talk about but we’re uhh, pretty busy!
I’m so happy you’re busy.
A: Sleep is for the weak, people!