We chat with GoneInTheNight director and co-writer Eli Horowitz about preparing for his feature film directorial debut, casting Winona Ryder, and what might be next for his acclaimed series Homecoming:
After scoring acclaim for Homecoming, Eli Horowitz is making his feature directorial debut with Gone in the Night. The mystery-thriller centers on a couple who visit a remote cabin they rented being inhabited by a mysterious younger couple and the subsequent fallout from sharing it together for one night.
How did you then come up with the intricacies of this mystery, because I love the way that it plays out in a nonlinear narrative? Eli Horowitz: Definitely the end, I think when it all kind of comes to a head and it does get a little, I don't want to say too much, but I think Matt and I would feel more comfortable with little clues and bits of mystery and intrigue and when things have to bust out, go a little bit wild. That's where we're like,"Are we really doing this? Okay, I guess we're really doing this." That's where, for me, my strengths and weaknesses as a writer got trickier.
I think one of the greatest things about this film is its visual presentation. What was it like for you determining the look, did you have any specific inspirations you pulled from? Eli Horowitz: It all started with Winona and, of course, that was the craziest fluke. I wrote her a note, basically, but I had never met her or anything like that, and then four days later, it was like 11 at night and I was in bed and I got this text from an unknown number and it was just,"My dude, it's Winona, let's do it. I love the script.