Interview: A Banquet Director Ruth Paxton Talks Horror Inspirations And Directing Jessica Alexander
Packed with memorable scenes, mind-numbing horror, and unnerving possession, A Banquet is an arthouse horror movie that'll never go out of style. The psychodrama follows a single mother and her two daughters, Betsey (Jessica Alexander) and Isabelle (Ruby Stokes), through a nightmare-ish experience. After a close brush with death at a young age, years later, Betsey finds herself being summoned towards the woods during a blood moon. She immediately falls ill and after countless visits to the hospital along with her standoffish, yet caring mother, she surrenders herself to her body — refusing to eat and driving away her loved ones with her unusual comments about the afterlife.
Scottish director Ruth Paxton brings this warm-blooded movie to life, drawing inspirations from horror movie greats Ari Aster and Darren Aronofsky, and contemporary artwork. While A Banquet is her debut feature film, she has created many award-winning shorts, including PULSE which led her to winning Best Woman Director at the 12th London Short Film Festival. In a conversation with Game Rant, Paxton shared her inspirations behind ABanquet, her experience directing Jessica Alexander through her possession scenes, and the movie's apocalyptic ending.
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Game Rant: What were some of your inspirations behind A Banquet?
Ruth Paxton: The film was originally pitched to me as a cross between Rosemary's Baby and Hereditary. Those were movies that I was a huge fan of, so my interest really piqued. That's what made me want to read it. There's obviously a lot of more contemporary transcendental horror that's been an influence on me and the film, including
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