Article contributed by Daniel A
If there was a cure for death would you take it? Immortal, co-written and directed by Natalie Metzger and Robert Allaire, introduces us to the character of Anna (played by Laura Coover), a geneticist undertaking research in creating such a cure. I interviewed Natalie and Laura and they agreed that they would both take the cure if it existed. “It’s hard for me to imagine anyone who wouldn’t”, Laura says.
The same mentality is shared with her character Anna, who has started trials on not only her elderly father, but herself in the film. This raises moral and ethical implications, but as Natalie puts it, “we didn’t want her (Anna) to be glorified or villainised, but rather to feel like a complex human being that has become obsessed with something that might do good, but might also cause harm.” When asked what drew her to play such a character, Laura says she “loved Anna right away for her deep and unabashed passion for her work, and the faith she has in herself in spite of everything and everyone.”
Anna’s main obstacle within Immortal is the discovery of her research by her wife, Harper (Meredith Casey) who does not share her viewpoint. “At the core of this film is a woman’s struggle with work/life balance. And in trying to save a life, she’s also delaying the creation of a new life,” Natalie says. The life to which she is referring is a child that Anna and Harper are planning to have together in the film. Natalie says that she and her co-writer/director Robert Allaire wanted to raise the question, “in the context of the (Anna’s) work being life-saving and potentially world-changing. What happens if, in the desire to have more time with someone later, you neglect them in the present.” Harper is upset that Anna has been neglecting her to undertake her research in secret, and Laura “think(s) the film looks at the human cost of scientific progress, and a compelling way to explore that is through this relationship as it’s breaking down in front of you.”
During this breakdown, Harper refers to Anna as a mad scientist and Laura says she “felt a personal connection to the loneliness within her (Anna’s) obsession. Her struggle to relate to her own wife broke my heart.” Natalie continued by saying “it’s been really interesting seeing how different audiences respond. Some people think that Anna is totally justified, and others think that she’s a monster. And we really like that the film walks that fine line to allow for such different interpretations. In my mind, she has done some ethically questionable things in order to do her research, but her heart is in the right place, and she truly believes that she is doing good.” Immortal “inspires the audience to investigate their own sense of right and wrong,” Laura adds.
