Sam and Max Eggers Discuss Growing Up With Robert Eggers

The Front Room is A24’s newest addition to the horror genre, scheduled to hit theaters this September. The film features Brandy Norwood, known for Descendants: The Rise of Red, and Kathryn Hunter, from Poor Things. This project marks the directorial debut of Max and Sam Eggers, the younger siblings of Robert Eggers, the director renowned for The Lighthouse. Max collaborated with Robert on The Lighthouse and co-wrote The Front Room alongside Sam. We asked Max if there was a noticeable difference when working with his brothers.

“It’s very similar,” Max stated. “The advantage is that we’ve been working together our whole lives. Our mother was a theater director with a children’s theater company, and our father was a Shakespeare professor. Robert was our creative guinea pig, and it was always a natural part of the creative process. I’m very fortunate to have not just one great collaborator, but two.”

When we playfully suggested Max had given a diplomatic answer, he added, “Personally, I think I’m the best brother,” laughingly.

“He’s the youngest, as you can tell. I’m a half an hour older,” Sam chimed in. “He’s always the angel of anything.”

“That makes him the middle child. So, yeah,” Max replied.

You can read the plot description of The Front Room here: “Everything goes to hell for newly-pregnant Belinda (Brandy) after her mother-in-law (Kathryn Hunter) moves in. As the diabolical guest tries to get her claws on the child, Belinda must draw the line somewhere…” The film also stars Andrew Burnap and Neal Huff.

The Eggers brothers also shared their thoughts on casting Brandy as Belinda. “It’s funny,” Max explained. “We were looking for our wicked stepmother, and then we found her, but what we always needed was a Cinderella. And yes, of course, Brandy is a scream queen. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer is ingrained in my mind. But Cinderella, certainly—we are theater kids and have participated in many productions of Cinderella— and you needed somebody you’d root for immediately.”

“And I think us telling this tale … Who is that that comes to your mind? It’s Brandy. And so, when she was willing to go through this kind of experience, it was genuinely challenging. It wasn’t so much the same thing about Solange, but finding somebody willing to go through that, who wanted to be stretched in that way. And she just was such a shining light for us when we actually got to work with her.”

Sam added, “And she was very committed to the role. And I think, just like with Kathryn’s and Solange’s wild behavior, you needed that foundation with Brandy playing Belinda. She’s in every single scene, and she was willing to go there and do anything we asked of her. And you can’t ask more from an actor.”

The Front Room arrives in theaters on September 6th.

Source: ComicBook