Hala Matar’s ‘Electra’ Is Where ‘Mr. Ripley’ and ‘Saltburn’ Meet — And the Director Is Delighted
Hala Matar is the first of her kind. The director tells The Hollywood Reporter she is the first female Bahraini director to make a feature film. After growing up in the Middle East and studying theater at school, Matar studied in America at the University of Virginia. By mistake, she enrolled in a cinematography class, but it ended up changing the course of her life.
“I felt like it spoke to me more,” Matar says. “Because I feel like I communicate better visually. Theater concentrates on dialogue.”
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Now, her most recent project, Electra, will get its premiere on Thursday at the Oldenburg Film Festival, which notoriously champions indie movies like Matar’s. Co-written with Daryl Wein and Paul Sado, Matar’s film is backdropped by a deliciously extravagant Italian palazzo where a journalist, Dylan (played by Wein), and his photographer girlfriend Lucy (Abigail Cowen) are staying with a relatively obnoxious rockstar (Jack Farthing) and his artist partner (Maria Bakalova).
But no one is really who they seem and as the days unfold, what was meant to be a career-saving profile piece on a famous musician descends into, as you can guess by the film’s title, something of a Greek tragedy. It might strike audiences as the love child of Anthony Minghella’s The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) and Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn (2023).
Matar talked to THR about how Electra came to be, why she can’t tell us who inspired these characters (spoiler: because we all know them, apparently), and how being Bahraini has pushed her to explore Western film with a freedom she hopes to see replicated in other Arab directors.
How did Electra come to fruition and when did this journey start?
Two years ago. I’m obsessed with Italian cinema. [Italian filmmaker] Fellini is my favorite, 8? is my all-time favorite film. I’ve always wanted to make a film in Italy, and I even have another script that’s also set in Italy, and I lived in Rome for a brief period. So I always had that intention. And outside of that, I was traveling with my co-writer in Italy, Daryl [Wein, who also stars in the film], and we came upon this beautiful palazzo, which, you know, most of the film is set there. So we actually built the story based on the location.
I just wanted to explore the themes of identity. I was thinking a lot about The Talented Mr. Ripley while writing it. In a way, it felt like a theater production, because we actually all lived in the palazzo, as well, while filming it. So it was a really nice experience with the actors and the crew.
I was picking up on those Mr. Ripley vibes. I thought Electra was almost The Talented Mr. Ripley-meets-Saltburn.
Yeah, isn’t that funny? Because I saw [Saltburn]. I mean, obviously this film was done before Saltburn came out. So, when that film came out, I was like… [laughs.] I think that would be the best comparison.
And it’s great that you all lived in the palazzo while shooting. It took about three weeks, right?
Yeah, that’s very crazy. It really tested my abilities as a director, but it also, at the end, made me trust myself more. Thankfully I had good actors. I think I’m really happy with how it turned out. But I could only do about five takes max. We were able to and I think maybe because we were all living there, it made that possible because in Italy, you only have 10-hour shoot days. Nine with lunch. You really don’t have much time.
This film also feels like a love letter to Italy in lots of ways.
Definitely. I mean, I have two other scripts that are also set in Italy, so 100 percent.
Tell me about writing these characters, because each of our four leads feels very authentic in their own right. What was the inspiration there?
It first centered around Dylan, the main character. Him and Lucy are trying to be other people. What I would say with that is all the characters are not really who they say they are, and they’re either trying to be another character because of insecurities or because they’re escaping trauma.
They all have that common theme of identity but in completely different aspects. One is a rock star and he’s not happy with where he is in his career. The other is a performance artist, also not happy with where she is and she’s hiding her insecurity by dressing super extravagantly and being really loud. And then I don’t really want to give Dylan and Lucy away that much, because I don’t want to ruin the movie. But they’re just escaping. They’re pretending to be other people because they have all these ulterior motives. I’ve done a lot of music videos and I also curate art as a side job. So I’ve been in the world of music and art a lot and I came across similar characters in my journey as an artist. So that’s how they came to be.
Did you take any inspiration from real-life people that you’ve met along the way in your career?
Definitely. I just can’t name names, because they are people you would know. [Laughs.] But yeah, some people I’ve worked with 100 percent, which was fun, because they were real-life personalities that I’ve worked with. It was nice to do that and then build the characters with the actors. Also, sometimes maybe [the actors] would give me people that they can identify with more.
You spoke a little about identity as one of the broader themes of Electra. Is there anything else that comes up? And no spoilers, of course, but what are you hoping audiences take away from this film?
With identity, I think I’ve struggled as well. I was in the art world, I had a gallery in New York at a very young age, I was living in an art gallery, and I was around really big personalities in the art world. I wasn’t being who I really was as a filmmaker for maybe the first two years after college, I had major insecurities, and I felt like I was pretending to be this other person and so a lot of it comes from my experience in my early 20s. I wasn’t being authentic with who I really was as an artist.
What I want people to leave with is the idea of unfinished business. How the film ends and all the chaos that ensues is because Dylan was trying to get what he wants in a dishonest way. Whether it’s relationships or business partnerships, when you don’t confront the truth, or when you end things with no closure, it just lingers in your mind and could drive you crazy. It could lead to disaster, like what happens in the movie. So the lesson is that: just being honest and trying to end things in the right way.
And it’s as much a film about that as it is about vengeance…
You’re right. The most important theme in the movie. That’s why it’s called Electra!
These Greek tragedies, do you take an interest in them?
Yeah, I do. I’m just more drawn to classical themes and classical literature, whether it’s, you know, Shakespeare or Greek. I always base all my stories on that and then do it in my own way. I think the reason why I chose the title is just because it has that common theme of vengeance and it also deals with family.
You’re originally from Bahrain, and I wanted to ask about that because you don’t see a lot of Bahraini filmmakers, especially women.
Yeah. I’m actually the first Bahraini female director that has made a feature film. But I think Arabs get pigeonholed a lot. I think people expect them to make films or make art that deals with their identity. What I’m doing is the complete opposite. I’m just hoping that people from my part of the world, if they do see my films, what they’ll take away is: ‘Oh, I can just write a love story.’ Maybe the reason why I have been drawn to more Western themes is because growing up [in Bahrain], you do feel quite constrained. So that’s why my films are set in the West, because I just feel that freedom when I write films that are set there. I am just hoping that people from that part of the world can find that freedom, because it’s really hard.
Coming to Oldenburg must be really cool. How was it getting Electra a premiere there? Secondly, this is a film festival that really champions indie filmmaking. How important is that, in a day and age where we’re seeing indie movies get swallowed up by such big-budget projects or streaming?
Being here, I’m so grateful because I just think it has the right audience that I feel like would appreciate Electra. And then at the same time, it’s also very inspiring to be with fellow filmmakers that have similar motives of why they’re attracted to making movies and what pushes them and just trying to stick to a unique vision and being authentic as filmmakers.
It’s only my second day, but the people that I’ve met already are really inspiring in terms of pushing indie cinema. I completely agree with you, because there are all these big studio films that are very formulaic and and it’s hard being a filmmaker, trying to pitch and trying to get funding. A lot of time, the industry pushes you into being more formulaic and try to diminish your voice. It’s obviously a challenge to make things your own way and and to seek support in unique ways — it might have to be outside the industry, like the traditional route of trying to get a studio to support you. It’s important to always try to push the envelope and to make authentic movies. that’s something that I will never steer away from. Otherwise, what’s the point in making movies? Hopefully that message continues.
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