Whatever he turns his hand to, British writer-director Alex Garland seems to have a real talent for. From writing novels, to penning screenplays (for 28 Days Later, Sunshine, Dredd and Never Let Me Go), to directing feature films Ex Machina and Annihilation, and now this year being creator, writer, director, and showrunner of the incredible series Devs, he’s a master at cooking up thoughtful, thrilling genre fare. And after crafting all eight episodes of that series, Garland is now plotting his next move – a new feature film.
“I wrote a low-budget horror movie, set in the UK,” he tells Empire in the new issue, on sale now. Casting and financing on the project is currently underway, with a view to shoot in spring or summer 2021. “I don't know if it's unrealistic or not. Always at this particular moment, a film always feels unrealistic, but then somehow it works out.”
The horror film came up after Garland was initially working on something completely different – another TV series, this time tackling the ineffectual and surface-level state of protests in recent years, with a view to star his Devs cast. “At some point with civil disobedience, you have to start smashing stuff up. So I was writing about the need to smash stuff up,” he explains. But events of 2020 – namely this summer’s potent and powerful Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of George Floyd’s killing – meant a change of plans. The sense of organisation, dedication and real anger that Garland feared was lost was once again alive. “I thought, ‘So now what I’m writing is pointless.’ In a good way. I almost felt glad, weirdly.”
Read Empire’s full interview with Alex Garland – talking the full story behind the making of Devs – in the WandaVision issue, on sale now and available to order online here. All episodes of Devs are currently available to stream on BBC iPlayer.