‘The Manor’ delves into the terrors of ageism
Film set in nursing home thematically rich, director says
Axelle Carolyn’s “The Manor” is the rare horror movie to feature a protagonist over the age of 60. The film stars Oscar nominee Barbara Hershey as Judith Albright, a woman who recently suffered a mild stroke and is moved into a nursing home whose residents are being targeted by a supernatural force.
The gothic horror, written and directed by Carolyn, is one of four films released in the second installment of Amazon Studios and Blumhouse Television’s “Welcome to the Blumhouse” anthology, now streaming on Prime Video.
“It was a really hard script to find a home for because we’re talking about ageism,” said Carolyn. “It’s incredibly difficult to get a movie made if your lead is a woman in her 70s. A lot of places really liked the script but then wanted us to replace it with a mental institution or change it somehow.”
“The Manor,” along with the other three films in this slate of Blumhouse films — “Madres,” “Black as Night” and “Bingo Hell” — was made on a shoestring budget as part of the production company’s mission to uplift emerging filmmakers from diverse backgrounds.
“I like that they’re supporting and giving young filmmakers like Axelle a chance,” said Hershey. “That’s something that they’re doing with their ever-growing power, and I applaud that.”
This interview with Carolyn and Hershey has been edited for clarity and length.
Q: What made you want to write a horror film centered on an older woman?
Carolyn: A bunch of different elements. The first was seeing people in my family end up in nursing homes. I think going into a nursing home and seeing the reality of aging — you confront your own mortality in some ways. And the way that I tend to channel difficult emotions — because I’m such a horror fan and because that’s the way that I write — is to come up with supernatural stories.
The other thing is that we always seem to treat older people in movies and media in general like they’re a different type of person. Like suddenly they turn into these crumpetmaking, cookie-baking, cute little people who are not (like) who we are right now. I wanted to have a character (who was) amazing, charismatic, sexy … and funny (like) most of the women of a certain age (that I know). If we had better role models, it would make it a lot easier to see yourself in their place.
Q: Of all the -isms, ageism often goes unchecked in our society. Why do you think that is?
C: I’m not sure, but I think it’s particularly true for women. We always seem to praise very, very young women, and you can see it in Hollywood (how) over the age of 35, it becomes much harder (for women) to get certain roles. There are definitely barriers that are placed on women as they get older. And I can’t speak to where it comes from, but it definitely has to change, especially in a society where we remain healthy and happy for much longer.
Hershey: I think probably all of the -isms are born of fear. If we could see role models around us who, as they age, are healthy, vital, sexual, interesting, evolved, curious and very much alive, then it’s not such a fearsome thing. It’s one of the things that attracted me to the script and this character; (Judith) embodied all of those things. It’s sadly rare and was a welcome thing to get to play.
I’m always shocked that film doesn’t embrace the truth of what it is to get older … You look at a show like “Game of Thrones” where they have characters of all ages and the audience loved all of them. I think young people are capable of loving older characters and vice versa. We’re all human beings. The quicker we get rid of the -isms, the better off we’ll all be.
Q: Can you talk about the themes of society’s mistreatment and exploitation of the elderly underlying the movie?
C: I have to say, I have great respect for the work of nursing home staff; I think they’re doing an incredibly difficult job. But I think it goes back to that idea that we can’t really picture ourselves as our (elderly) selves. We also very often have trouble communicating with people whose abilities have started to diminish, in particular people who have cognitive or physical issues.
Even trained staff sometimes (struggle) to know how to help. My dad had advanced dementia when he was moved into a nursing home, and I remember when we went the first time, my mom asked what do we do if he needs something. And they said, “All he has to do is press a button.” And she said, “He has dementia, he will not remember new things. So how do we do this?”
The fact that a place where they specifically (serve) those kinds of patients hadn’t really thought of that, or had but hadn’t come up with a solution, (shows) there are challenges that are incredibly hard to solve.
H: My mother also had dementia and one of the things that was difficult was that not only was she frightened about what she perceived was happening around her but she was so in pain at not being believed that these things were real. And the script dealt so directly with not being heard or believed, and it evolves with Judith questioning herself like, “Is this what dementia feels like? Is this what going crazy feels like?” All of that was really fascinating to me and wonderful to get to play with under the surface. Q: What do you think it is about nursing homes … that make them a perfect setting for a horror story?
C: You have vulnerable people whose abilities are starting to decline, whose own minds they sometimes have trouble trusting. And they’re stuck in a place where communication is difficult, where even people who mean well have trouble hearing and understanding and figuring out how to help. And where, for your own good, you’re locked inside. … So your world gets smaller and smaller and very often if your symptoms manifest as (fear), you will be locked in the very place that you’re scared of.
The experience of not knowing how to communicate must be incredibly isolating. I remember with my dad, you could see in his eyes that he had a thought and it would be gone before he could express it. How incredibly isolating and depressing it must be. So there’s a lot of elements that thematically were very rich.