Despite a limited budget and relatively little film experience, writer and director Kevin McMullin crafted a visual opus about young boys on the Jersey Shore in Low Tide. The movie, which opens on October 4, weaves together brotherly love, first romances, and a duplicitous treasure hunt in a coming of age tale that’s sure to resonate with audiences everywhere. Screen Rant got the chance to speak with McMullin about what his goals were for his debut film, what importance he ascribed to water within the story, and what plans he had (if any) for a sequel.
Congratulations on an amazing job. First question: how’d you make this movie with no money?
That’s incredible. So, you pretty much took that as a challenge, and you nailed it.
Kevin McMullin: Well, thank you. I think, when I wrote the story, I realized very quickly that the cinema verité version – that a lot of sub-million-dollar films would approach because it’s a little faster – wouldn’t really incorporate that sense of wonder that magic that I kind of wanted.
So, the deal breaker was I needed to shoot for 30 days. For some reason, it gets more complicated when you have more money. But I saw Jeremy Saulnier’s Blue Ruin, and they did it in 30 days, and they had a little less money than we did. I figured, if that guy did it, I’m gonna fight for it.
What that time allowed us to do is to kind of create more of a classical visual aesthetic. I’m a big fan of like old John Huston movies, or Hitchcock, so wider shot composition and shot progression and telling the story visually. And then inside of that, having these fantastic actors who could work within those constraints and hit their marks, but then also just add a level of emotional depth that I never thought I’d be able to muster up.
Amazing job. What inspired you to tell the story about kids going on a treasure hunt?
Kevin McMullin: Yeah. You know, there’s always this Come to Jesus moment, I talked to friends who made movies in similar budget ranges, and they have ambitions of renting a crane for the week or doing a big sweeping shot. And then I talk to them after week one, and they’re already a day behind, like we were. There’s always a decision, like, “Do we just take it off the tripod or the dolly and just go handheld from here on out?” Because we need to make our days. “Or do we really fight for this thing?”
I storyboarded out a big portion of the movie, and I kind of doubled down on the cinematographer Andrew Ellmaker. I was like, “No, let’s just stick to the plan. Let’s keep in going this way, and we’ll just figure out how to make out day.”
These kids were so good that a couple takes in, we got it. You want to give them more opportunity. They’re so smart, and they want to try things out in different ways. So, you want to give them that time. But, very often, ADs tap me on the shoulder, like, “We gotta go, dude.”
Every kid at some point or another wants to go on an adventure to find treasure. What did you want to explore with this concept?
Kevin McMullin: Well, as a kid, I watched Treasure of Sierra Madre a lot. That was probably in the back of my head. But this town, Point Pleasant Beach, where I spend my summers as a kid, is really rich and full of folklore. It has this beautiful harbor that’s been around for like 100 years, and there’s an active fishing community. Half a mile down the road is the beach and the boardwalk, and it’s very touristy; it’s where I had my first job at an arcade. There’s also this little island, that people refer to as Treasure Island, in the middle of the Manasquan River.
I initially wanted to shoot there, but then production was like, “We can’t shoot on an island.” So, we figured out elsewhere, but initially it was featuring this town. I always like to take those classic themes of greed and betrayal and apply them – not reduce them – to young protagonists. It’s reductive to an extent, but I think that when you’re that age, the stakes feel really high. It’s your first time falling in love, or your first time getting into a flight. I wanted to honor that feeling and treat this parentless world with a certain amount of visual respect.
Part of adolescence is getting into situations without understanding how deep the water can get. How did having young leads affect the tension in a given story?
Kevin McMullin: I love the movie The Goonies; it was one of my favorites as a kid. That’s about a communion, like a group of friends who come together to find treasure. But I was always very interested in what happened immediately after. When they did find it, who turns on who, who’s putting something in their pocket, you know? As I was sitting down to write, that wasn’t top of my mind; but in retrospect, you realize what your influences are.
I think I realized what audiences have seen too, so it’s fun to go subvert those [expectations]. It’s greed and betrayal; it was fun to kind of see these young characters turn on each other. And I think when you’re that age, everyone’s got a summer where you kind of take stock of your friend group. There’s some that have been your friends since elementary school, so you don’t even think about it [until] you can see them in a different light. It’s post puberty now – people have different opinions, and they’re growing their hair out long, and they’re skateboarding now. I think there’s a divide that happens. And obviously this moves dramatizes that they find a bag of money, but it’s interesting to explore the dissolution of a group. Especially with kids.
At some point the film feels like a mini mafia movie with crime, police on the chase, and turncoats like Smitty complicating matters. How did you layer these elements so effectively?
Kevin McMullin: Yeah, I think the kids’ stakes are higher, because they haven’t lived more life. Like, I remember my first fight; that was a big deal. Looking back on it objectively, it’s nothing, but when you go through it, everything feels big.
It was fun to put the audience in the point of view of those characters that are that are experiencing it, and also play with how the audience has been conditioned, in terms of the cinematic approach to seeing kids and adventures onscreen. You get to present a lush soundscape, and you can go against convention or embrace it.
I love Smitty. You think that everything’s going over his head, but he’s just observing and retaining. Now, water is a consistent presence in the film. Can you talk about its significance in the story?
Kevin McMullin: A lot of it was by design in the script, but I love films that their big finale is not [big]. I love monster movies and special effects and stuff like that, but what I love more is when the finale of a movie could be three people sitting down and lying to each other.
Then you get to cast people like Daniel Zolghadri, who plays Smitty. He’s so wickedly smart that I would cut a lot of dialogue, because I just love watching him think. But when I met him, I realized that the role is really tricky, because you have to kind of be the comedic relief, and then watch him go very delicately into this Machiavellian turn. Only a smart young actor could do that; he could do anything. So, I was fortunate enough to get him, because I feel like that’s the engine that drives all the twists and turns. It was fun putting him in a room and watching everyone kind of feed off that energy.
Again, my favorite scenes in the movie all take place in the brothers’ home. Even though we have great set pieces, like the forest and stuff, I go back to those scenes.
Nice. There’s an underlying theme that addresses class warfare, with there being tension between locals and vacationers that visit in the summer. What do you hope to explore with those subjects?
Kevin McMullin: Yeah. Our oldest stories in the world kind of involve water, right? Like, the flood is something that destroys but then rejuvenates the world, too. I feel like it’s the means by which things are revealed to them. Literally, with the title, and there’s an element in the finale that reveals where the treasure was hidden, or where Peter re-hid the treasure.
I think it’s interesting because it recedes, and it comes back, and it can do so even stronger. But I feel like, growing up in the water, there’s always a sense of, “Be careful with the riptide, even when the water looks so calm.” I guess that was kind of in the back of my head.
Also, you can’t escape it when you’re photographing the Jersey Shore. The water is everywhere, and it’s gorgeous. And it’s where you, as a character, you’re going to bum around your friends; you’re going to hang out and fish on the harbor. So, it just became a pretty organic part of the story.
This film explores a whole new side of the Jersey Shore. What are you hoping to illuminate for those who may be only familiar with the old reality series?
Kevin McMullin: I think there’s such an inherent contrast to that town, because there’s a lot of locals who somewhat resent the summer tours who come in just for the best time of the year, and they take up the best of us in their hotel rooms and stuff like that. And yet they depend on them economically.
It was really interesting to watch this group of blue-collar kids, not like Rage Against the Machine, but kind of affect their own justice by robbing them. Of course, that’s to fuel their own pursuits, or just have some scratch money. But I thought that was an interesting dichotomy, and that group of kids was kind of our way to explore it.
When the film ends, it’s clear that there’s potential for more story. Would you entertain a sequel?
Kevin McMullin: Where I grew up, I didn’t really see much of that. It’s funny, because I heard a lot of those actors were from Staten Island and other places. It wasn’t necessarily Jersey. I’m from Bruce Springsteen territory; that’s where I grew up. I remember listening to his albums and driving around. That was more my experience.
You’re right, I hadn’t seen that version of it done. I saw The Sopranos, like mafia ties, movies and stuff, and then there was the Jersey Shore TV show. Neither of those were really my experience growing up. It’s a densely populated state, and I wanted to feature a new side of it. Hopefully we did that.
I asked the other four young cast members what they thought Red’s fate was, and I got four different answers. Just as a viewer, what do you think Red’s fate is and what do you think it should be?
Kevin McMullin: Never say never, but I like the idea of loading the audience’s head for the day. My favorite movies are the ones where I go to the diner next door afterward, and my friends and I are arguing about what happened next. So, I love putting that in the audience’s head.
The very end of the movie was actually the general image for the movie. I spent some time exploring that as the beginning of the movie, but I realized it was way more interesting getting to that point. Because ultimately – spoiler alert – it’s the origin story of a pirate.
So, it’s an interesting taste to leave the audience with, but I hope that they’re not quite expecting it. And the goal was to start off kind of Amblin’-esque, with that sense of wonder and adventure, and then descend something darker and just keep going.
Alex said that he was thrown over the bridge and he’d be shark bait. Whereas I believe Jaden said that he would have survived, but he’d be a changed person. Everybody’s answers kind of varied.
Kevin McMullin: I’m kind of curious what all the other answers were.
I like that. Did you give the kids any material to use as research or inspiration?
Kevin McMullin: Maybe no comment on that one. I have my own my own answers, but I think maybe it’s best to leave that up in the air.
They also said The Assassination of Jesse James.
Kevin McMullin: We each talked differently about their characters. Alex and I really bonded over this idea of comparing characters to animals. And Alex was like – there’s no vanity in that kid; they’re all beautiful kids. We talked about not really doing any makeup on him and just letting some acne scars come up. And we bonded over [Red being] a shark, just how impulsive and unpredictable they are. I have friends who dive with sharks, and they can be relatively tame. Unless they’re provoked, and then they bite down hard.
There was some required watching for the other kids. I sent them Good Will Hunting and David Gordon Green’s All The Real Girls, just as a sense of how organic I wanted the group to feel. Like, when they’re on the boat just laughing, I want them to feel like some of those bars scenes in Good Will Hunting; people talking over each other or just laughing and having a good time. Just for the scenes to be natural.
There are shortcuts to that as a filmmaker; we can get in there with a long lens and play with the focus and shake it up. But if you can just lock it down and let great actors act, it makes it makes my job easier. They really are that good.
Well, amazing job, man. I really enjoyed this film so much.
Kevin McMullin: Yeah, there’s lots of twists and turns in that. Casey Affleck; that’s my favorite performance he’s ever given. I love that movie so much; everything about it. There’s a lot of great moments in that movie of, again, people sitting at a table just lying to each other. I could go on about that movie forever. That was a big inspiration: not just structurally, but watching a dramatic narrative unfold. Even though you have genre elements in that movie, no one would ever call that a Western. It’s just a drama.
More: Alex Neustaedter & Daniel Zolghadri Interview: Low Tide
- Low Tide Release Date: 2019-10-04
