Sator (2019)

Sator: Directed by Jordan Graham. With Michael Daniel, Rachel Johnson, Aurora Lowe, Gabriel Nicholson. Secluded in a desolate forest, a broken family is observed by Sator, a supernatural entity who is attempting to claim them.

“SATOR filmmaker Jordan Graham on the indie horror filmu0026#39;s eerie and mind-blowing real-life inspiration.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e10 days into shooting what would become the indie horror film Sator, everything changed for filmmaker Jordan Graham. Due to budgetary constraints, Graham handled nearly every aspect of the filmu0026#39;s production, including writing, directing, editing, producing, scoring, and even building the cabin that serves as one of the main sets in the film. All in, the film took a whopping seven years to complete, but it was that one day of shooting with this actual grandmother that sent the film spinning off in a completely new and unexpected direction.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eShooting a scene for the film at his grandmother June Petersonu0026#39;s home, Graham thought it would a nice touch to incorporate her into the film with a small cameo role. u0026quot;It was just going to be a quick, improvisational scene,u0026quot; says Graham. u0026quot;But then I go to the house with my actor, and I told him that youu0026#39;re going to pretend to be the grandson, and youu0026#39;re going to meet her on camera and talk about spirits, because sheu0026#39;s spiritual person, that might get her talking. And she started talking about the voices in her head and something called automatic writing.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhat his grandmother began describing in that scene was her relationship with a supernatural being called u0026quot;Satoru0026quot; that she first met in 1968, and had been a part of her life ever since. u0026quot;She met Sator in 1968, and spent a lot of time with himu0026quot; explains Graham matter-of-factly. u0026quot;And I did research after that very first day, and realized that this is what I want to incorporate in the film. And then I went back to my grandmother and tried getting her to talk about this more. And you canu0026#39;t predict anything that sheu0026#39;s going to say, you canu0026#39;t tell her what to say. And a lot of the stuff she did say didnu0026#39;t work with the story I was already trying to tell. So, I would have to take week-long breaks to try to rewrite and try getting this to work in the film.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe concept of u0026quot;Satoru0026quot; was not new to Graham; his grandmother, her mother, and her motheru0026#39;s mother had all been known to hear voices that had resulted in stays in psychiatric hospitals, and his great-grandmother had committed suicide. But the reams of automatic writings and the voices in her head were a revelation and captured a deeper sense of his grandmotheru0026#39;s decades-long connection to Sator.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Iu0026#39;ve always known (about) Sator my entire life,u0026quot; says Graham. u0026quot;But it was just a guardian of hers. Thatu0026#39;s it. I didnu0026#39;t know anything about the automatic writings or the voices in her head until she decided to share it the day that we were filming. It was just by chance (that) she decided to talk about that. When dementia got really bad, she couldnu0026#39;t stay in that house anymore. So when we moved her into a care home, I went and helped clear out the house and in the back closet, I found a whole box of these (automatic writings). I found that box when I was in post-production. So, Sator wasnu0026#39;t even involved in this film until post-production.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;And so when I found that box, I found a 1000-page journal, and it documented every single day with him,u0026quot; explains Graham. u0026quot;And so when I found that, I was like, u0026quot;Oh s h i t , this is what I need to put in the movie somehow.u0026quot; And dementia was already starting to take over. And so then it was like a race against time to be like, u0026quot;Okay, let me get as much as I can out of her.u0026quot; And the first time she spoke, she talked all about him, which was great. And the very last day that I recorded with her, it took like 40-minutes just to get her to say three lines or get her to talk, like, say three sentences about him because he was like, wiped from her mind. But by then when I saw that, I was like, u0026quot;This is a gold mine.u0026quot; I thought I had something really, really, unique here. And itu0026#39;s like, well, I have the real person that can talk about this in this film already. So let me see what I can do with it.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIncorporating home video footage of his grandmother, Graham retooled the film into a slow-burning horror film about Sator, a demonic creature stalking a troubled family in the woods. Starring Michael Daniel, Aurora Lowe, Gabriel Nicholson, and Rachel Johnson, the film is a beautifully-shot haunting feature that only becomes more unsettling once you uncover its real-life inspiration.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eRetooling the film so late in the process after years of build-up forced Graham to have to retrofit footage from his initial plan for the film into something that could accommodate Satoru0026#39;s presence in a fluid way, without spoiling the restrained tone and atmosphere of the film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWith its deliberate pacing and focus on a familyu0026#39;s battle with a supernatural entity, Sator brings to mind recent A24 hits like The Witch and Hereditary, even though the process of filming Sator began years before those films were released.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;When the trailer came out for The Witch, that got me excited because I was like, u0026quot;Okay my film is right in that wheelhouse, this is great,u0026quot; says Graham. u0026quot;And then when Hereditary was announced in Sundance, I freaked out because that film is about the Graham family. That film was about the Graham family and my last name is Graham, and it has to do with a grandmother thatu0026#39;s dealing with the supernatural, and I freaked out. Because itu0026#39;s like, u0026quot;Man, he stole my film.u0026quot; But then I read the script. I went searching for the script, read it, and itu0026#39;s like, u0026quot;Okay, this film is completely different.u0026quot; I really like his film. (Hereditary director) Ari Aster is now an influence on me as far as how I want to be with writing. I love his writing. (Robert Eggersu0026#39;) The Witch definitely was a huge inspiration as far as coloring the film. I actually had screen grabs of The Witch next to mine, and used that as kind of a reference for coloring the film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFollowing Satoru0026#39;s digital release, Graham has put together a number of extras for an upcoming Blu-ray release of the film that will shed light on its unique production history.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;I am writing some articles that are a deep dive into the making of,u0026quot; says Graham. u0026quot;I did a very in-depth commentary about my process with everything. Yellow Veil is working on a Blu-ray release with a certain company that I canu0026#39;t (disclose) yet.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSator is available on video-on-demand now.”