Following on the heels of his 2002 werewolf hit DOG SOLDIERS, writer/director Neil Marshall plunges back into darkness with Lionsgate’s THE DESCENT, a terrifying film about six women friends trapped in an underground cave system inhabited by deadly subterranean creatures. “In many ways, THE DESCENT is the sister film to DOG SOLDIERS,” says Marshall. “Instead of six men, there are six women trapped and facing a common foe. But rather than bond together in the face of adversity, the women turn against each other and their relationships disintegrate. It’s about a descent into madness.”
Marshall spent over two years developing the script for THE DESCENT with producer Christian Colson, who is also joint managing director of Celador Films, the production company and financier of the project. “Neil came in and pitched the idea to me about two and a half years ago,” recalls Colson. “I really wanted to work with him and I really liked the basic story idea. We went through 10, maybe 15 drafts, adding more depth to the back-story until we all felt it was ready.”
“The first draft of the script was a lot more caricatured,” admits Marshall. “The women were a bit more stylized and slightly unrealistic. The action hasn’t really changed at all, but the characters have become much more real and human.”
After the male bonding that took place during the filming of DOG SOLDIERS, Marshall was initially unsure what it would be like working with an all-female ensemble. But, according to the director, “it turned out to be an absolute dream. We managed to achieve that same atmosphere of collaboration, and a good sense of fun and of professionalism. These women were game for anything, and on screen they’re just mind-blowing.”
Shauna Macdonald (“Spooks,” THE ROCKET POST) leads the talented cast as Sarah, a young woman recovering from the loss of her husband and daughter in a horrific car accident. “Sarah is a very energetic, enthusiastic, bright woman, but she has lost her way. All the joy in her life has disappeared,” says Macdonald. “She tries to get back on the horse, so to speak, by going on this trip with her friends.”
For Macdonald, the opportunity to play Sarah was a welcome physical challenge. “We all did a course of climbing. We also did white water rafting training, and we went caving,” she says. “I also had to prepare mentally for the journey of the character, which is quite dramatic – the change Sarah goes through is not really full circle, it’s more of a spiral.”
Prepping for THE DESCENT also tapped into some of Shauna’s personal fears. “The dark does scare me because I have quite a vivid imagination,” says the actress. “I’m also a bit claustrophobic so it was a challenge when we went caving. I really had to concentrate on breathing.”
As Juno, the tough, conflicted leader of the trip who is also Sarah’s best friend, Natalie Mendoza (CODE 46, THE GREAT RAID, MOULIN ROUGE) takes a character who could “quite easily be perceived as the baddie” and makes her fully human. “Juno is a mass of contradictions,” says Mendoza. “She’s fearless, but she’s completely cowardly as well. When it comes to anything emotional, she loses it. But she’s vulnerable as well: she made a mistake, and she wants to rectify that and get rid of her guilt.”
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