Q&A: CURVATURE Director Diego Hallivis on Working with Linda Hamilton and Making a Character-Centric Time Travel Movie

You may know her best as Sarah Connor in the first two Terminator movies, but in the new film Curvature, Linda Hamliton experiences a different kind of time travel adventure in her co-starring role as Florence. With Curvature out now in theaters and on VOD platforms from Screen Media, we caught up with director Diego Hallivis for a new Q&A feature to discuss working with Hamilton, making a movie where time travel enhances the characters as much as the plot, and two different genre movies he has in the works.

Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for us, Diego, and congratulations on your new movie, Curvature! When you read Brian DeLeeuw’s screenplay for the film, what made you excited to bring this story to life on screen?

Diego Hallivis: Thank you for the support! Two things jumped out at me when I first read Curvature. First, the role of Helen, a strong female protagonist who doesn’t fall into the trap of conforming to Hollywood tropes. Second was the way in which time travel is implemented. Just in general, time travel movies are very hard because there are so many out there and its all about finding a new angle. Many movies tend to use time travel as a device that changes the outcome of events in the plot. But Brian was able to create a compelling story in which the time travel elevates the drama and the emotional arc of a character. That's what made me think Curvature was so original.

Were you inspired by any other time travel or sci-fi movies when you were making Curvature?

Diego Hallivis: Definitely! I watched a lot of time travel movies, mainly to study what’s been done before and think about how I could approach Curvature a bit differently. So they definitely helped, but I didn’t use any other time travel films as a template for Curvature.

The cast for Curvature includes the great Linda Hamilton. What was it like working with Hamilton, who is a legend within the sci-fi genre?

Diego Hallivis: Linda is one of the nicest and sweetest human beings I have ever met. I was nervous at first, because she comes from the time travel film school of James Cameron and I’m an independent director working on a much smaller budget. But the very first time I met her, she greeted me with a hug, told me how much she loved the screenplay and immediately all my nerves disappeared. Working with her was an amazing experience. She brings an amazing, positive energy to set and likes to collaborate. She would give me different versions of her performance with each take that all still managed to seem true to her character. It really made my job a lot easier and very enjoyable.

When you look back at your time on set, is there a favorite or funny moment that stands out?

Diego Hallivis: There's a dream sequence in the film that takes place in the forest. It has a misty, moody vibe, so we had a smoke machine ready to go for the day we shot it. And of course, it broke down on that one day we really needed it. So we repurposed a haze machine. The problem with that is that a haze machine produces about a tenth of the smoke we needed. Plus, the smoke disappears much, much faster than that of a smoke machine. And so, as Lyndsy [Fonseca] walked through the dreamscape, I had to run in circles around her holding the hazer and trying to stay out of frame. Later in the edit room, my editor Joel [Griffen] made a little compilation video of my running around—still makes me laugh when I see it!

Where did filming take place, and how long was your shooting schedule?

Diego Hallivis: We filmed in Kentucky and shot for 20 days with a full crew, as well as an additional two days with a skeleton crew (basically just me, our producer Julio [Hallivis] and a 1st AC).

What was the most challenging scene to shoot?

Diego Hallivis: I can honestly say that there wasn’t any specific scene that was terrible. The challenges really only came when we had to fight the elements (rain, traffic, etc.). We’d lose a crazy amount of time, then have to figure out how to make up for it. Sometimes that meant not rehearsing as much; other times it meant changing the blocking you had planned for weeks or simplifying your shot list in order to make the day.

Would you be interested in returning to the world of Curvature in a potential sequel?

Diego Hallivis: For me, there needs to be a good story reason to make a sequel. And in light of how Curvature ends, I feel a continuation would just betray the story. It just wasn’t really designed to be a franchise.

With Curvature out now from Screen Media, what other projects do you have on deck that you can tease?

Diego Hallivis: I have other projects that are cooking, some of them sci-fi, but I love genre films in general. There is a western thriller getting a lot of traction, but I also have a horror movie I am very excited to make. I can’t give many details yet, but suffice it to say that it’s going to be really bizarre, crazy, and really out there. We should be making an announcement soon.