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Oscar Isaac as the husband, or Control? (spoilers)

posted 8 years ago by Locke_John
6 replies | jump to latest

Currently reading book 2, so spoilers from book 1 included.

The husband's role is fairly minor, only seen through flashbacks of the Biologist (Natalie Portman) and ultimately doesn't amount to a whole lot (at least up until the point I'm at). I guess it's possible that for the film they could include a lot more of him, be that more flashbacks of their relationship, or even some scenes of him and his expedition in Area X, but ultimately it still feels like kind of a small role for Oscar Isaac. Control fits him more, in my opinion. Of course he doesn't appear until the second book, but it wouldn't be too difficult to fit him into the first film.

So, thoughts? Is there any concrete confirmation that he's playing the husband?

[–] keirto 8 years ago

My guess would be the husband because Garland stated that this is strictly an adaptation of the first book without the sequels in mind at the point of writing the script.

[–] solidturtle 8 years ago

I can't help but feel as if it was planned to be a solo film from the get go.

Everything about its format, four women, picked off one by one, isolated location, just screams "adapt me into a horror film!" Plus look at the length. It's like 160 pages, perfect movie adaptation length, where as the next two are both closer to 350. I've had people tell me "I can't see how they would make this into a movie!" and I think, it's so obvious, it's one of the most standard horror formulas in the book.

[–] Helene-B 7 years ago

Alex Garland did state explicitly that it was intended as a solo film in an interview... that I didn't bookmark and that I can't seem to find.

If I recall correctly, he said that when he wrote the script the two last books weren't published yet (although he knew they were being written). And that writing a self-contained, stand-alone film appealed a lot to him after having written Dredd that was intended to be the first of a franchise.

As far as adapting the first book, I'd say that the difficulty is that a lot of the horror is because the narrator doesn't understand what she experiences, which is enhanced by a very non-linear narration. Which means a movie adaptation would ideally need to keep the mood, match the visuals (I can't wait to see if they succeed) yet make the story clear enough for the viewer.

[–] Don_Cheech 7 years ago

You see those pictures on a newer thread? It looks EXACTLY how I pictured the setting

[–] nefernef 8 years ago

Gina Rodriguez confirms it's the husband in this interview:

http://www.latina.com/featured/magazine/2016/gina-rodriguez/

[–] getthepapersgetthepapers9698 7 years ago

It's almost a shame because if they ever do make the second one Oscar Isaac would be a perfect control