The Surrender held its world premiere at SXSW. A surrealist horror thriller that takes a complex mother-daughter relationship at the heart of it and fleshes it out, the film showcases brilliant back-and-forth performances from its two female leads. In a recent interview with Jaylan Salah from Geek Vibes Nation, actress Colby Minifie (playing the main protagonist, the fraught daughter in the mother/daughter duo) and director Julia Max talk about the difference between horror and comedy, creating claustrophobic shots within large sets, the terrifying female experience, and more.
Geek Vibes Nation (Jaylan Salah): What do you want to comment on about female horror in this film?
Julia Max: There is a prejudice against female horror often treating it as a separate subgenre. I also feel that so much horror is targeted at men, which [is something] I’ve never understood because the female experience is inherently more terrifying. I always wonder, why would you not lean into that more? However, if you go back to [observe] the horror genre, this is why you have final girls most of the time. Because, as women, our experience is terrifying in life. I love that this [film] is a final girl [vehicle] because it’s a female-driven piece.
For me, this movie is about the process of grief and what it entails. In a society so terrified of discussing the process of death and dying, I wanted to explore that and the emotions surrounding it. I focus on the emotional rollercoaster of the experience and not just the horrifying and scary elements, which, of course, are present.
Our fantastic actors, Kate [Burton] and Colby, did an amazing job. All of our actors are brilliant in this, but I’m obsessed with Colby in particular.
GVN: How did you tap into this character’s psyche, and how did you protect yourself while doing so?
Colby Minifie: This script is written so well and I really connect to it. I have nothing close to the same relationship that Megan [Colby’s character] has with Barbara and Robert [her parents], with my parents. Mine is a wonderful relationship. However, because this movie is about grief and losing a parent, I connected to the possibility and the inevitability of that in my own life. I wanted to explore it although I was terrified to explore what that looked like. I remember having a Zoom audition with Julia and then feeling like I needed to get the job. I freaked out and knew I wanted to talk to Julia again because it was going to be an emotional challenge. I would dig deep into my personal relationship with my parents —which is a wonderful relationship— and imagine my dad dying for a month. I thought to myself, “If I’m going to do that, I have to do it with somebody that I trust.” As soon as I had my first Zoom meeting with Julia, I liked her a lot.
By the time we had the second meeting, I was ready to do [this film] because I knew I would be doing it with somebody who would take care of me. It’s not just about crying or product-based stuff. It was all process-based with Julia, and that’s why I had such a blast. I loved working on this movie.
GVN: What was it like exploring Colby’s performance against Kate playing a complex mother-daughter relationship?
JM: These are two powerhouse performers [whose] chemistry was so wonderful, and I’m glad they made the characters their own. Mother-daughter relationships are so complicated, and you love them so much, but it’s complex. Nothing is ever simple and straightforward. There’s so much history in any family relationship.
CM: But mothers-daughters in particular are always complicated because oftentimes mothers want to mold their daughters into the image they wish they were and that sucks.
Working with Kate Burton though [was phenomenal]. She’s a legend and I’ve been a fan of her work for so many years. To get to do a two-hander and tear these scenes apart with a theater legend like Kate is a dream. One of the blessings was that we had a week of rehearsal before we started shooting, and within that, we explored the depths of the complexity of this relationship and answered a lot of questions. That meant that by the time that [we shot] these scenes, we could scream at each other and let it rip and flow.
JM: It was amazing to watch. It was just about making sure that the camera could keep up with those two.
GVN: How were you able to create this claustrophobic feeling through the cinematography?
JM: We had a fantastic DP, Cailin Yatsko, who was a dream to work with. She was instrumental in helping us create that in the space. It’s funny that when we were location scouting, we had initially envisioned this to be in a much smaller house. Then we quickly realized we need a bigger space in order to make it feel smaller because if it’s an actual small space, the camera would be right on top of [the actors]. We were incredibly lucky to work at Descanso Gardens, which is the most beautiful location, and at the Boddy House, another dream come true. Cailin and I had all this stuff planned for how we wanted to shoot it. Once we got in, our camera operator Goose was so good and we were able to do more things than we had initially planned. It was like a dance.
GVN: Was the shoot as scary as the film looks?
CM: Not really. I love playing pretend. It’s my favorite thing to do, and I know it’s not reality. I get to go as far as I want within that imaginary space. As soon as they call cut, I’m making fart jokes because that’s the only way I get through anything, especially since this is a heavy film.
However, there was one moment with Vaughn Armstrong who played Robert. I can’t reveal which moment this was but he made these sounds. I watched the monitor in the same room [because] I was not in the scene but when he made these sounds, I got full body chills and had to stop myself from cry laughing. I was terrified by his performance. He was so committed and I have a lot of respect for him.
JM: They always say horror is one of the most fun genres to make. I think comedy is the hardest.
CM: Comedy is the least fun because if people aren’t laughing, you know that you’re not doing a good job and all you want to do is hide in a hole somewhere.
GVN: What do you want your movie to comment on concerning grief and the women experiencing and processing it?
JM: There’s always been this need to try to rush people through grief. People don’t like seeing or dealing with it. When my stepfather died, people were hesitant to even ask, “How are you doing?” Because they don’t want to remind me that this happened. But my reaction was, “I’m very aware that he passed away. You’re not going to remind me about it.”
The most important thing that I learned while writing this film is that when someone dies, all that remains are the people left behind. I remember [at the time] arguing with my mom and pushing back on the death doula that we used then because I didn’t know if [my stepfather] would want this. It didn’t feel right, then quickly realizing that it didn’t matter at this point. We were all that we had now, and the only thing that mattered was me supporting my mother because, as hard as it was for me, writing this [film] was the closest I could come to imagining how much more difficult it was for her. So trying to have more empathy for others and supporting people who have lost a loved one is the most important thing we can do.
CM: There’s something in your question that made me think about how we as women all live in a man’s world. We speak man’s language. We dream in man’s language. So when the patriarch of the family suddenly dies and two women are left with their relationship without this third person who actually operated the language they all spoke in, [that was tough]. Therefore, in trying to bring him back, they were having to contend with what it meant to be a woman without a man in the room.
JM: My stepfather was the peacekeeper between me and my mom and the go-between who helped us bridge that gap sometimes. Navigating life without him has been an interesting journey, especially realizing that we no longer have someone to bring us back together or resolve things for us. Now, it’s up to us to do that on our own. It’s also taught me the importance of having patience with our loved ones—a lesson that’s not always easy but undeniably important.
The Surrender held its World Premiere as part of the Midnighter section of the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival.
Jaylan Salah Salman is an Egyptian poet, translator, and film critic for InSession Film, Geek Vibes Nation, and Moviejawn. She has published two poetry collections and translated fourteen books for International Languages House publishing company. She began her first web series on YouTube, “The JayDays,” where she comments on films and other daily life antics. On her free days, she searches for recipes to cook while reviewing movies.
