Marjane Satrapi aimed to create genre-bending film with ‘The Voices’

TORONTO – Capturing a lonely schizophrenic who displays bashful boyish charm in one scene and a gruesome flair for the macabre the next, director Marjane Satrapi’s film “The Voices” was intended as a genre-bending experience.

Part goofy comedy, part gory slasher flick, part commentary on how society treats those with serious mental illness, the film was supposed to be one that blurred lines.

“When I read it I was like, is this a comedy? Yes but not really. Is it a horror film? Yes but not really. It’s also a lot of emotional moments,” Satrapi told The Canadian Press in an interview at September’s Toronto International Film Festival.

“This is why I wanted to make it.”

Ryan Reynolds stars in the film as Jerry, a bashful factory worker who seems nice enough but has something odd about him. As the plot unravels, it becomes clear that Jerry is a schizophrenic who doesn’t always take his medication and hears voices from his cat and dog, among other beings.

Things take a grisly turn when the affable Jerry listens more keenly to those voices than to the advice of his psychiatrist, though the plot is punctuated with moments of comic relief.

The combination of light-hearted moments with serious and even chilling scenes was what drew Satrapi to “The Voices.”

“I have compassion for the serial killer when I’m supposed all the time to be scared of the serial killer,” said the Franco-Iranian director, who is best known for her autobiographical graphic novel “Persepolis” (which she adapted for an Oscar-nominated animated film).

“This notion of the human monster is very exciting because nobody is born a monster.”

Indeed, exploring how society treats those with serious mental illness was an important aspect of the film for Satrapi.

“If there is one message, that is sick people are sick. They don’t do things because they are bad. It’s because they are sick,” she said.

“We cannot just pretend that these people they don’t exist. They do exist. … Society creates its own monsters so society has to take care of its own monsters.”

Anna Kendrick, who plays one of Jerry’s love interests in the film, appreciated that exploration and embraced the film’s peculiarities.

“It is a completely insane and twisted script, but that’s sort of the most exciting thing about it,” she said of the film. “I just hope that it kind of blows people’s minds a little bit.”

Reynolds’ portrayal of Jerry in particular helped keep the film convincing, despite its often conflicting tones, Kendrick said.

“I was trying to explain to my friends how you might root for a serial killer. And then when I would say it was Ryan Reynolds, people immediately understood,” she said.

“There’s just an inherent warmth in Ryan and that is certainly the thing that my character connects with. And he’s so present as an actor that it made my job incredibly easy.”

“The Voices” opens in Toronto on Friday and goes to video on demand later this month.