She’s the Eldest is more than a dramedy about three oddball siblings reconnecting in their childhood home.
It’s also a mystery—where did their parents vanish to, years before? Are they dead or alive?
Later in the film, the story also takes a surprising turn toward horror. What’s up with the strange, sexual, visceral dream the main character has? And what lurks in the dank basement of the family home?
Then there’s the magic. Are the rumors about the siblings’ absent mother being a witch true after all?
You’ll have to watch the movie to find out. Jones said she drew from films as diverse as Bergman’s Cries and Whispers, The Babadook, and Practical Magic for inspiration. The project got a chunk of its budget from a Seed&Spark fundraiser and was shot in about a week while Buss suffered from a real-life broken ankle.
Altogether, She’s the Eldest is a promising directorial debut from writer/director Cate Jones, who also stars in the movie as Polly, irascible sister to overworked Leanne (Mary Buss) and infantile Jamie (Mickey Reece).
Eldest sister Leanne raised the pair when their parents disappeared, and continues to mother them well into adulthood as all their relationships sour and dreams slip away. The drama here is rich and entertaining, and the story will keep audiences guessing well into the finale.
Jones and Buss spoke to the Cinematropolis as part of the deadCenter 2020 Film Festival about what it was like to develop and make the film. (The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.)
I know you’ve talked about the inspiration for this being sort of an homage to the older sister who raised you. Can you talk about your other inspirations?
Jones: It was also just trying to make something feasible for a first-time feature. I knew I wanted to use Mary and put it mostly in one house. I initially thought I was going to make a straight horror movie, but then when I started writing it, it just came out as my sister’s story instead. And then I was also inspired by Margot at the Wedding and Practical Magic, but just the nostalgic parts you remember of Practical Magic, not really the actual movie itself. Just having spooky things happening around siblings.
Was there a lot of collaboration, did you get to pitch in on set? Was there any improvising?
Buss: Cate was very collaborative. We made lots of adjustments in the moment. Maybe rewrote things to make them fit our mouths better, because that’s the tricky neuro-linguistic thing, to make someone else’s words sound like you would say them. And her dialogue is amazing and very natural to begin with.
Jones: There was a scene that was completely improv, added in just because we liked the look of the room, and then Mickey and Mary wanted to have a moment between their two characters.
Buss: I don’t know if it was just lit right or something, but we just decided to do a scene, and I said to Mickey, “I’m going to say something, but it might be too much. You should tell this story.” And he said, “I was already going to tell that story.” And so it was a synchronistic, special moment.
Jones: They were like, “Hey, can we do a scene right here?” And we’re rushing around doing crazy stuff, and my [assistant director]’s like, “No, you can’t do it.” And I’m like, “What are you thinking?” They were like, “Just let us do it.” All right, but you only got one or two takes. We decided to do it before lunch, or something. We did it, and that was the one scene I was crying, as a director, on the sidelines.
Buss: Ram Dass says, “If you think you’re enlightened, go spend a week with your family.” And when you do go spend a week with your dysfunctional family, if you’re as lucky as me, and happen to have one, that moment feels so real, because you do reminisce about these horribly traumatic events that happened in your life, without the histrionics, and without the emotion of them. But it’s like, “Yes, we went through that. And that was hard.” And I think in that moment it gives us so much more depth about the family and what they went through.
Jones: I think it really made Mickey’s character more well-rounded and told more of your mothering dynamic. It made it richer to me.
What was your favorite part of doing this project?
Jones: It’s hard, because it was a really miserable shoot, to be honest. It was crammed into eight days, and there was a lot of rushing, and not enough bodies to do everything and to keep everything organized, but then not enough space for the bodies that were there. And budgetary limitations —
Buss: Creative problem-solving would be the positive spin on that. Just like putting a puzzle together in the hottest days of September. For me, my favorite part of it is the specific team of people working on it. Cate, and Mickey, and Holli [Taylor], and Nick [McDonald], who did sound. Jacob Burns, who shot it. And Alex Palmer, who produced.
Jones: Sanchez.
Buss: Alex Sanchez, who’s like my favorite person on the planet. There’s a shorthand that happens when you’re working with your friends.
Jones: Yeah, getting to make something with all of my favorite people, basically, and all of my favorite actors, is just all the joy you can want in doing some kind of work.
She’s the Eldest is available online for ticket and badge holders as part of the deadCenter Film Festival 2020 until midnight on June 21.
