It also debuted in Berlin.
Deadline talked to Trengove ahead of the world premiere in Berlin on Saturday (February 18).
Is that the case?
Manodrome(c) Wyatt Garfield
JOHN TRENGOVE:The starting point preceded all this stuff.
I couldnt understand what was happening anymore.
The culture was moving so quickly and things that were unthinkable were happening.
John Trengove (c) Antonia Steyne
I was clutching at straws trying to understand what was going on.
Somebody gave me Angela Nagles bookKill All Normies.
DEADLINE:In what way?
They felt abhorrent to me and not something that Im interested in at all.
The idea of chosen family is very much a queer one.
Can you talk a bit about him?
That is where the problem lies.
TRENGOVE:Im fascinated and terrified by America.
Ive spent some time in America.
I wasnt trying to be specific in terms of the time and geography.
We were also shooting there over Covid, in Syracuse.
There were signs of a society collapsing.
It was mid-Covid, so a year or two into the pandemic.
DEADLINE:The film never specifically reveals that the film is set in Syracuse.Was that deliberate?
For me, its a kind of fever dream.
That was the word that Ive always used.
Were inside Ralphies head, inside a version of America that is projected and imagined.
His experiences arent always reliable in the sense that we dont always know whats real and whats not.
How did you get him onboard?
TRENGOVE:Jesse was the last person I thought of when I was writing the script.
That was my entry point.
When that conversation opened up, Jesse was one of the first names that came up.
We sent him the script.
He responded immediately, saying, I never get sent material like this.
The insanity of that is something he completely found.
Im incredibly proud of Jesse.
He is just the most extraordinary person.
Hes hilarious and intense and very smart.
He threw himself into the role with complete abandon.
It was a really difficult shoot.
DEADLINE:How did Adrien Brody fit into this dynamic?
TRENGOVE:Its interesting because Adrien tries a lot of different things.
On set, hes very intuitive and all over the place in a way.
Then when you get to the editing room and you start crafting the performance, he emerges.
That was the very surprising thing with Adrien.
Theres this performance that that you didnt quite see so clearly on the day.
DEADLINE:Gina GammellandRiley Keoughwere on board the project as producers under their Felix Culpa banner.
How deeply were they involved in getting it to fruition?
TRENGOVE:There were four people who were very important to the project.
Riley and Gina at Felix Culpa, and then Ben Giladi at Liminal Content.
They were on board from the very beginning.
I met them when I was beginning to think about the project.
I hadnt even written the first draft.
The fourth person was Ryan Zacarias who came on board closer to the shooting.
I owe them so much.
They fought such a battle to get this film produced.
Its a very difficult time to make dark and complicated low-budget movies.
Their commitment to the project and to seeing it through and getting it done was just remarkable.
TRENGOVE:She sort of inspired the character of Sal.
When I was getting down to writing, I was having a lot of conversations with Riley.
Shes a phenomenal actor.
And she brought such a sense of intelligence and a kind of clarity to the character.
I was just blown away.
Is this a thread that you think will continue through future works?
It was almost a kind of documentary in its approach.
I dont think Im going to make a third feature about masculinity necessarily.
It is important for you to weave LGBT elements into your films?
TRENGOVE: Is it important to me?
And as I said at the start, there is a kind of queering of these radicalized mens groups.
Its something thats me, thats my starting point, my interest.
It remains to be seen whetherManodromeis actually a Queer film.
Im not sure that its necessarily going to be embraced by Queer cinema.
DEADLINE: Can you give a bit more detail on the project?
TRENGOVE:Its an idea that Ive had in the back of my mind for a very long time.
Its not a film about devil worshipping.
