Slingshot director Mikael Håfström discusses the claustrophobic horror of his new sci-fi thriller

From the director of the horror film 1408, Mikael Håfström comes a new pulse-pounding and claustrophobic sci-fi thriller starring Laurence Fishburne and Casey Affleck.

Slingshot is an intimate and anxiety-inducing romp from Håfström that follows a spaceship crew on a potentially compromised mission to Saturn's moon Titan. The team prepares to undergo a dangerous maneuver that could endanger everyone onboard as one astronaut struggles to keep his grip on reality.

With Slingshot now playing in select theaters nationwide, 1428 Elm had the chance to chat with Håfström about the making of the film and what fans can expect.

1428 ELM: What attracted you to the script in the first place?

Mikael Håfström: I think I read it quite a few years ago now, and there were quite a lot of things I liked; I like those kinds of claustrophobic environments and the psychological thriller aspect of it and what happens with guys who go on these kind of journeys.

We haven't been on these journeys yet. We don't have the resources to do that. We've been to the moon, but that's pretty straightforward. But going years and years into space, what actually happens to you? Films can experiment with that and try to figure it out, but it's still something we don't know much about. All of those things were intriguing to me.

1428 ELM: You compared it to your other film, 1408, and how they are sort of parallel stories. Can you talk more about the differences and similarities between those two projects? Slingshot feels more grounded almost, while 1408 is very psychological.

Mikael Håfström: There are similarities, which is obviously it contained a hotel room in 1408 and a spaceship here. There's also a story about two guys who lose their grip on reality. I think with 1408, you can see that film about a guy in a hotel room from hell or as a guy slowly going insane in an ordinary hotel room. Whatever way you look at it, it's okay. There are differences, but there are almost more similarities than differences.

1428 ELM: They complement each other.

Mikael Håfström: Yes, that's true in a way, but they are distant cousins to each other. I think that was also something that attracted me to Slingshot. Not to make the same film again, because it's not, it's two very different stories as you pointed out, but there is the sense of loneliness and isolation. In [1408, John Cusack's character Mike] lost his daughter and wife in the process, and then with [Casey] Affleck's character here, he leaves a woman behind that he had a complicated relationship to. So it's about loss and longing, those kinds of things.

1428 ELM: As a director, how do you go about creating that kind of tension and suspense when you're in an isolated, contained set? Do you feel like it happens naturally or that you have to be more precise?

Mikael Håfström: You always have to be precise in a way. It's a collaboration with the actor and the DP, obviously, who is an important person when you work in such a space. It depends on the scene and how you build it. What's the meaning of this scene? How do we create it? Is it going to deliver what we say to the audience? Some scenes have one function, others a different one. It's always fun and challenging to create this kind of tension. But that's the job, that's what we try to do the best way we can.

1428 ELM: James Cameron recently said it's hard to do sci-fi nowadays because "we're living in a sci-fi world," what's your take on that?

Mikael Håfström: I think Cameron is right about that. Even if the future is here in many ways, as I think he points out, it's still, you know, the human mind is always interesting to deal with, even if you are in space or a hotel room or whatever. I think this story, Slingshot, happens to take place on a spaceship. But it's also very much a story about love and loss and also about who you are and a guy who tried to maintain his sanity, and you can do that in many different places. But the future is here, he is right about that, so it is more challenging to do things in that genre.

1428 ELM: Did you, did you draw inspiration from any other sci-fi films when you guys were kind of crafting the look and feel for this one?

Mikael Håfström: Yes, I mean, you know [2001: Space Odyssey] and Alien and all these films that are great in the genre. But we also wanted to try and create a look, a spaceship that would have its own identity, not a lot of stuff and chains hanging and all of that, but more slick and clean environment that could make this sense of isolation and claustrophobia even stronger.

So we looked at the science of today when it comes to space design, and we tried to push that a few years into the future and create our own environment. It was fun, it was a learning process. You talk to a lot of people and you learn a lot about things that you didn't know much about before.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Slingshot is now playing in select theaters.