The team behind Eileen reveal all – with spoilers! <\/p>
**WARNING: Contains spoilers for Eileen**<\/strong><\/p>\n If you\u2019ve read Ottessa Moshfegh\u2019s 2015 novel Eileen<\/a>, you\u2019ll know that it includes something of a major left turn in its final act \u2013 with a key scene completely altering the mood, and even genre, of the entire book.<\/p>\n Given that Moshfegh herself has written the screenplay for the new film adaptation \u2013 along with her husband and writing partner Luke Goebel \u2013 it\u2019s no surprise that that twist has been left intact, with Anne Hathaway\u2019s Rebecca delivering the line that instantly changes everything.<\/p>\n Ahead of the film\u2019s release, RadioTimes.com<\/a> spoke to the duo about crafting the big reveal in the script, and how it was a different process for Moshfegh than writing the original novel \u2013 which is narrated from the perspective of the title character (played in the film by Thomasin McKenzie).<\/p> \u201cI think there\u2019s an expectation for Eileen when she enters this different space, and then there\u2019s also the expectation of the viewer who is like, \u2018Well, we think we\u2019re going somewhere, but then it turns out that\u2019s not where we\u2019re going,’\u201d Moshfegh explained.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth literally, and in terms of the dynamic between Eileen and Rebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut I think, in the novel, she already knows the story, so she\u2019s trying to reveal it to the reader bit by bit \u2013 and I think that was really what we were focused on in how we lead the viewer through each scene at Mrs Polk\u2019s house.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, at what point do we reveal this? At what point does Rebecca say this? Just to keep the tension and suspense going as long as we can, and then deliver something that\u2019s sort of an invitation to even more suspense.\u201d<\/p>\n She added that she had enjoyed watching the film with audiences, in that it allowed her to observe people\u2019s reactions to the big moment in a way that naturally wasn\u2019t possible with people reading the book.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, when you read a book, it could take you, like, several days at least, and this was just a very concentrated hour and a half,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the collective shock was palpable. I mean, it was like electric in the air, and then also the feeling when the movie is over. It\u2019s just this sort of stunned\u2026 what do you do now?\u201d<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n Speaking about his observations of the reactions, Goebel added: \u201cPeople are too upset at the end for it to have not worked as a tonal shift. People may say, \u2018Well, that wasn\u2019t what I expected,\u2019 but, like, it\u2019s not like people just get up and go, \u2018OK.\u2019 People are upset.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it is upsetting \u2013 it goes from something where you kind of think you know where you\u2019re going and it\u2019s this really enjoyable, charismatic Christmassy film, and then it goes to something really serious.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s something that deepens the work into something that we wrestle with as human beings. So I think it\u2019s a success in terms of the tone changing.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, director William Oldroyd revealed how he wasn\u2019t too concerned with navigating a difficult tonal balance caused by the twist due to his own experience when he first read the novel.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to trust the fact that in the book, I totally bought it,\u201d he said. \u201cI think if I had read the book and gone, like, that\u2019s ludicrous, I\u2019d have had to look about how we engineer it so it doesn\u2019t feel so left field. But actually, when I read it in the book, I got chills\u2026 I didn\u2019t see it coming.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the kind of twist where you can like go back and see all the hints,\u201d added McKenzie.<\/p>\n Eileen is now showing in UK cinemas. Check out more of our\u00a0Film<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/a>\u00a0to find out what\u2019s on.<\/strong><\/p>\n Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only \u00a310 \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>subscribe now<\/strong><\/a>. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0<\/strong>The Radio Times Podcast<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n The team behind Eileen reveal all – with spoilers! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":40912,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/eileen-writers-and-director-unpack-the-films-massive-twist.jpg",825,550,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/eileen-writers-and-director-unpack-the-films-massive-twist-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/eileen-writers-and-director-unpack-the-films-massive-twist-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/eileen-writers-and-director-unpack-the-films-massive-twist-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/eileen-writers-and-director-unpack-the-films-massive-twist.jpg",800,533,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/eileen-writers-and-director-unpack-the-films-massive-twist.jpg",825,550,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/eileen-writers-and-director-unpack-the-films-massive-twist.jpg",825,550,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The team behind Eileen reveal all - with spoilers!","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/40911"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"