It’s about past coming back to haunt present: Neil Burger on new film ‘The Marsh King’s Daughter’

New Delhi, Oct 26: Filmmaker Neil Burger says his latest movie “The Marsh King’s Daughter”, a tense thriller set in the American wilderness, explores themes of family legacy and the past coming back to haunt a person’s present. As a director, Burger has been working in Hollywood for over 20 years and has built a varied filmography that includes movies like “The Illusionist”, “Limitless”, “Divergent” and “The Voyagers”.
All of his films, the director said, have a recurring motif which is a question he seeks an answer to — “Can a person become the best version of themselves?”
“I’ve done a sci-fi movie, a movie set in the past which was ‘The Illusionist’ and now this movie, which is a thriller set in the wilderness. I’m interested in different things, but on the other hand, there is sort of a thread that goes through them all thematically,” Burger told PTI in a virtual interview.
“It is this idea of change. Can you sort of throw off the legacy of how you grew up or whatever behaviour you were forced to do or whatever person you were forced to become? It’s also about empowerment. Can you become who you want to be or can you become empowered? And can you become sort of the best version of yourself? ‘Limitless’ is about that. Even ‘Divergent’ is about that and this movie is about that as well,” the 59-year-old added.
“The Marsh King’s Daughter”, based on author Karen Dionne’s 2017 novel of the same title, is set to be released in Indian theatres on November 3. It is distributed by PVR INOX Pictures in the country.
Starring Daisy Ridley and Ben Mendolsohn, the movie is about Helena Pelletier, a young mother who carries a complicated legacy as the daughter of an incarcerated murderer, known as the Marsh King.
When she finds out that her estranged father has broken out of prison, Helena sets out to outmanoeuver the man who taught her everything about surviving in the wilderness, as per the official plotline.
Burger said he read the script, penned by Elle Smith and Mark L Smith, during the COVID-19 pandemic and wanted to make the film on the subject.
“I’d been looking to make a film set in nature. And in this movie, nature and the wilderness are a big part of the story. It is a sort of its own character in the movie. (PTI)