Thrash, Netflix's new disaster film, a genre that isn't nearly prevalent enough, has a crazy premise: a hurricane destroys the levees in a coastal town, leading to multiple city blocks being flooded. To up the ante to the next level, on top of fighting for their lives against a deadly flood, the local residents must also survive a pack of hungry, vicious sharks out for blood.
The most impressive thing about Thrash, which is now streaming on Netflix, is just how real the flooded neighborhood looks. Of course, the production didn't actually flood a real town—but it certainly could have fooled me.
The Direct sat down with the stars of Thrash to discuss their experience filming in such intense conditions on such a believable and visceral set.
"The sets were so epic" and "incredible," Phoebe Dynevor (Bridgerton, Inheritance) praised, further elaborating that "so much of what you see there was practical." The star explained that "they built a little town in a giant pool outside in Melbourne," and that "they were sinking the sets literally."
In Thrash, there's a scene where Phoebe Dynevor's pregnant Lisa gives birth at an inopportune moment, which happened in "a real room that was built over a pool that they would slowly sink into the pool."
The rest of the interview, where we spoke with Phoebe Dynevor (Lisa), Whitney Peak (Dakota), and Djimon Hounsou (Dale), can be read and viewed below.
For more killer shark horror-thriller films, make sure to check out IFC and Shudder's Dangerous Animals.
Making a Flooded, Shark-Invested Neighborhood Look Real
"The Sets Were So Epic..."
- The Direct: "On a technical level, I think this film looked incredible, assuming you didn't actually flood a city block. It looked real. It looked really cool. And so, for you guys, what did a day on set look like? How did that setting become so believable in this role? What were you guys working with on the day?"
Phoebe Dynevor: Oh, the sets were so epic. I mean, the set design was incredible. And so much of what you see is was there was practical. It was only really the sharks that we were imagining, because we really had the elements. I mean, the wind machines and the rain machines...
They built a little town in a giant pool outside in Melbourne. And so, yeah, they were sinking the sets literally, yeah. And the scene where I give birth on the bed, spoiler alert, that was a real room that was built over a pool that they would slowly sink into the pool. So much of what you see was actually happening.
Djimon Hounsou: I mean, just the idea of being hit by the wind, and you guys [being] in that pool, it seems to me that in Melbourne, that winter, there was quite a bit of natural wind coming through, also strong in that area. So, yeah, my reality was just mostly based on having this fake rain meets this weathery storm.
- The Direct: "How miserable was it to have to be wet at every moment during this shoot?"
Whitney Peak: Dude, it was brutal. Straight up, it was brutal.
Djimon Hounsou: It was brutal. And then, this is something that I keep trying to remind myself not to make a movie that features water so much. But upon receiving this script, just the idea that we're bringing some awareness into, you know, and championing a social change about the way we conduct ourselves, with fossil fuel and all that, was an amazing, I would say, rewarding approach to trying to educate ourselves about the possibility and the plausible idea that this could actually happen.
Phoebe Dynevor: Yeah, and it's happening. I mean, we were shooting in those conditions, and those conditions are really, you know, hurricanes and flooding, and that's really prevalent around the world and in America, and I think we were all aware of that whilst we were filming it.
But going back to being comfortable, our saving grace was that they would put lube in our hair, so we didn't have soaking wet hair all day, every day. So that was really nice.
Whitney Peak: That's the only thing that worked. Like they tried a few different things, and the only thing that worked was the wet stuff. Yeah, lubricant.
The entire interview can be viewed below.
