SAM: I think about death a lot. Like many of us who experienced childhood in a world that seemed at constant odds with our interior life and expressions, I struggled with suicidal ideation from a young age. It’s a big part of my life and I’ve felt extremely fortunate at certain points to have had access to the right resources that meet me where I am, rather than trying to ‘correct’ or ‘fix’ me in ways that can be overwhelming, out-of-sync, or counterproductive to my specific experience.
In this film I wanted to meet a character who was contemplating death in a meaningful way, and who is met by a caretaker who is meeting him where he is. I guess to me, that’s the most provocative part of the film — not that it’s dealing with death as a theme, but rather that I’m portraying this character’s desires tenderly and compassionately. I think that idea, which is central to the film — that I’m refusing to give the audience some kind of binary or legible moral platitude about whether they should ‘like’ suicide or not — pisses people off. There was one journalist who was trolling the film online around its Sundance premiere, calling it “demented bullshit,” which I really take to heart, because I guess it means I’m doing something right. My artistic motivation has always been to make people look at their own beliefs sideways, to shake up or confront what’s perceived as familiar.


DAVID: Zachary Quinto has played villains before, but this is on another level. Similarly, Russell Kahn’s character’s motivations only become apparent as the film goes on. How did the three of you go about developing two such mysterious, nameless characters. Was there much rehearsal and preparation for this?

Zach is obviously extremely experienced, so I rehearsed with him much differently. He doesn’t like to talk that much when he’s on set or in between takes, and he really is someone who intuits his way through things in front of the camera, which he’s just incredibly strong at. He’s an incredibly warm collaborator who is exceptional at seeing things for what they are, which I think is also why we’re drawn to each other.
DAVID: This is your first short film, and it’s one hell of a calling card. Are you working on any other projects? If so, what can we expect next from Sam Max?
SAM: That’s extremely kind of you to say. I have another short film called TICKS that was commissioned by Hulu and will premiere on that platform in October. For me, I do enjoy it as a film, and I also treated that commission as a way for me to experiment with new collaborators, and new approaches to how the camera functions in different scenes. TICKS is a lot more physically dynamic than CHAPERONE, and it’s also more securely held in horror genre conventions. We shot that one completely handheld. Beyond that, I’m currently in the process of developing my first feature which will be in the horror space.