Photo: IFC Films
We were joined on the Popternative show by Rhys Ifans who stars alongside Phoebe Dynevor (Fair Play, Bridgerton) in the new spy thriller, Inheritance, premiering in theaters January 24 via IFC Films. Directed by Neil Burger (The Marsh King’s Daughter, Divergent), the film was shot in guerrilla-style on an iPhone around the globe from New York, Cairo, New Delhi, to Seoul.
In Inheritance, we follow Maya (Dynevor) who learns that her father (Ifans) was once a spy and suddenly finds herself at the center of an international conspiracy. In her quest for answers, Maya becomes a target and must travel the globe, mastering her father’s skills and unraveling the mysteries of his past.
The unique filmmaking approach for Inheritance did not involve rehearsals or major setups, and recorded regular people in the backgrounds.
This approach is what attracted Ifans to the project, he explains, “That’s what excited me first and foremost was working in this kind of guerilla way of shooting a whole movie for cinema. That thrilled me and it thrilled me even more knowing that there was a genuine, accomplished, exquisite filmmaker behind the tech. We all have these phones, we can all make a film, but I think you have to have the cinematic know-how and grammar, and it was great for me just as a nerd just to be around Neil [Burger] and seeing how he chose to shoot stuff and how he chose to move the camera.”
“[Phoebe and I] were working with the best actors in the world. The best actors I’ve ever worked with are real people who don’t know they’re acting and don’t know they’re in a film. That fed into it too. The whole film felt kind of low-key, pleasantly, a little bit illegal.”
Watch the full conversation with Rhys Ifans below where he also discusses his role as Otto Hightower in the Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon, which has been renewed for a third season on HBO.
Inheritance arrives in theaters January 24.
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