Elevation is a post-apocalyptic story with a science fiction flair. Monsters known as Reapers emerged from underground. They began hunting and killing humans, forcing them to take refuge in the mountains. For unknown reasons, the monsters don’t travel a single inch above an 8000 ft altitude.
Will (Anthony Mackie) is a single father who must travel below 8000 ft with Nina (Morena Baccarin) and Katie (Maddie Hasson). Will’s son Hunter needs medical supplies. The journey to procure them will be dangerous and revealing.
Actress Maddie Hasson spoke to us about performing action, working with Morena Baccarin, and the deeper layers of Katie.
This Elevation interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
LadyJenevia: Katie and Nina have a fairly antagonistic relationship in this film. How did you and Morena Baccarin approach building that tension between your characters?
Hasson: It’s funny cause I love Morena so much. We got on right away. We kind of all poked fun at each other and had a very like rough and tumble, sarcastic sense of humour. It was pretty easy to beat her up. It wasn’t as hard as you would think it would be. We enjoyed it.
LadyJenevia: There’s quite a bit of action in Elevation. Did performing that action make you feel more connected to Katie’s journey as a character?
Hasson: Definitely. I love doing action sequences and stunts. I love doing stunts. The thing where she falls and catches the chairlift, I actually got to do [that] and it was so fun. I was wearing a harness and I got to dive all day off of this big tower and catch this chairlift. I loved it.
LadyJenevia: The film’s story dives into different existential questions about humanity and the nature of humankind. Would you say that being thrust into post-apocalyptic circumstances brings out the best or the worst in Katie as a person?
Hasson: That’s a really interesting question. I’m trying to think back…
I think it’s a little bit of both. I think that they’re doing a very selfless thing, right? In a sense, going down below elevation to try to fight this monster and save this child, Will’s child.
But I think when you’re in desperation and in fear, you act in ways that that can be a little bit ugly, and you see some of that. Like with anything, it’s a mix.
LadyJenevia: There’s a point in the film where they reveal a bit more about your character’s backstory and some of the things that she went through before the world went to bits. How present was that backstory in your mind in other scenes where that backstory isn’t being directly addressed?
Is it deeply informing a lot of how you play her or is it more so something that you’re only really having at the forefront of your mind when it’s actually being addressed directly in the story?
Hasson: No, it was there. I think it informs how hardened Katie can be and how not receptive to new love she is. She has this relationship with Will and you can see her kind of open up and then close back, and then open up and then close back. With Nina as well, it’s very difficult for her to trust new people.
Elevation will release exclusively in theatres on November 8.
Watch my full interviews with Elevation star Maddie Hasson and director George Nolfi here:
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