Tommy Wirkola
Director's Intent Behind the Movie
In an interview with Tommy Wirkola, Wirkola mentions the "unforgiving world" the seven sisters live in. He speaks about wanting to create this world so that the audience didn't "feel too far from our own". [1] The world shown in the movie is cruel as siblings and children are ripped apart and the government is constantly watching over its citizens. Wirkola speaks on the characters' choices and the morality behind them. As seen in the movie, the seven sisters hack into the CAB's systems on numerous occasions as well as commit crimes such as infiltrating the CAB headquarters killing anyone in their way [2]. They are also criminals in the sense that they have broken the law by being alive. Wirkola expresses his opinion on this topic when he says "Their means are wrong and the way they are doing it wrong, but their worldview is kind of right"[1]. On the other hand, this also applies to the villain, Nicolette Cayman. The decisions she made were tough as they were made on behalf of the entire human race, but in terms of doing the ethically correct thing, Cayman's doing was very wrong. The topic of ethical and moral decisions is covered in more detail in our chapter analysis.
Wirkola's intention as a director was to make this movie relatable to the audience even though the world the seven sisters live in seems far away. Overpopulation, GMO foods, climate change are all issues that the citizens in the movie face, and those issues are present in our world today. The way the government and Cayman handle these problems should alert the audience that these decisions cannot be made by one person or one party. The audience should feel a sense of urgency to "look behind the curtain" and get involved in their lives to take steps to combat the dystopian world shown in the movie.
References:
Tiffany, Kaitlyn. “Tommy Wirkola on Directing Netflix's Latest Dystopia Thriller.” The Verge, The Verge, 20 Aug. 2017, www.theverge.com/2017/8/20/16164388/tommy-wirkola-interview-what-happened-to-monday-netflix.
Wirkola, Tommy, director. What Happened to Monday? Netflix, www.netflix.com/.