Director Stephen Shimek on Raising the Stakes In Murder At The Embassy
Still from Murder at the Embassy. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
Private detective Miranda Green is on yet another tricky case again (this time with much higher stakes) in Murder At The Embassy, the sequel to Invitation To A Murder. Set in 1934, Murder At The Embassy follows Miranda Green (played by Mischa Barton), who leaves England for Egypt to investigate a suspicious murder that happened inside Cairo's British Embassy. While she is there investigating the murder, she comes across a second crime, where a top secret document is stolen, which could potentially spark international conflict. Everyone in the embassy is considered a suspect, and Miranda must figure out who committed these crimes before it is too late and a global war arises.
Recently, REVERIE chatted with director Stephen Shimek about directing the film, Murder At The Embassy.
Stephen Shimek.
Photo by Stephanie Girard.
Although there was no 100% guarantee that Invitation To A Murder would get a sequel, Shimek mentions that they definitely planted seeds in hopes of making that a possibility. “The first movie by the end [Miranda] solved her first real-world murder, and she's looking to go into business for herself, so naturally in the next movie we pick up with her in the early stages of her new career,” he explains. “The goal when we had the opportunity to shoot a second film was to broaden the world, meet more people, and go on a more adventurous outing, but also to find something that Miranda herself can wrestle with and can grow as a character so that we’re not just seeing the same thing again. It's still very much a murder mystery, but it’s a different tone, flavour, and experience.”
Getting the chance to work with Barton again and seeing her return as Miranda Green was a joy for Shimek. “It was such a comfort to hear Mischa step right back into that role because it had been over a year since we shot that first film,” Shimek explains. “As soon as she started delivering her lines, it was like there was no time between the last time we had been shooting. We just picked up right where we left off.”
Agatha Christie was a huge influence on Murder At The Embassy. “We're not very shy about our fondness for Agatha Christie,” Shimek smiles. “Miranda Green is also a fan of her literature, so we’re definitely acknowledging we owe her a debt [as does] this whole genre.”
Young Sherlock Holmes, a film Shimek loved as a kid, which incorporated many Egyptian themes, is another significant influence on Murder At The Embassy. “As a kid, I really got into it because the detectives were my age and going on this incredible adventure, and now here I am with an incredible opportunity to shoot something in Egypt that’s a murder mystery with a lot of cool elements and with some adventure to it. I was revisiting that inner child and celebrating the idea that I get to put my spin on that same kind of thing.”
A good whodunit and murder mystery keeps the audience guessing about who they think the killer is. This is done by utilizing the element of surprise, employing red herrings, and making each character seem like a suspect. However, Shimek shares that it is also crucial that these things do not overshadow any character depth. “In order for you not to know [who the killer is], everyone has to be a little bit suspicious, but we definitely didn’t want to waste your time. There's more to everyone’s reason seeming suspicious at times, rather than just a red herring for red herring's sake. We try to keep all of these characters as real as we can. They have their own worlds, their own lives going on, and those challenges that they're facing are intersecting with this terrible, terrible moment where someone’s been killed. You just have to sort through all of the lies to get to the truth, and everyone’s hiding something for a different reason.”
Shooting on location in Egypt was one of the main highlights for Shimek. “It really paid dividends to have footage of our actors in these locations,” he comments. “The scenery alone is doing the work for me half the time. Those sequences, when we are at the Nile, the pyramids, or in these beautiful Egyptian locations, brought so much to the table. There is so much texture, life, and energy. I had never been to Egypt before, so this movie took me to Egypt. Now I’m telling everybody you’ve got to go like it’s the best place ever.”
However, shooting on location had its challenges. While they were filming in Egypt, they needed to be incredibly prepared, precise, and know exactly what they needed to film each day. This is especially true with the scenes involving the pyramids. “They're not gonna close down the world's largest tourist attraction to let us shoot our movie, so not only are we needing to figure out exactly what scenes it is we need to get while we’re at these pyramids, but [we need] to make it look like there aren’t thousands of people here looking around,” Shimek states. “As exciting as it is to shoot on multiple continents, it definitely comes with a series of challenges; just trying to get all these different groups who have never been together in the same space to work together towards a common goal, but I'm super proud of our team. What I’m most proud of was just the number of places, people, and teams that were involved and how well we worked together to make something special.”
Something that Shimek wanted to carry over from Invitation To A Murder to Murder At The Embassy was to really let the performances shine. “Something that I really enjoyed in that first film was how much texture there is and how much intrigue and excitement you get out of everyone’s reactions,” he states. “I think there were at times nine people in one scene in a room, and we had to figure out how to adequately get reactions from everyone. It just paid dividends having that material. Those performances really fuel what these big ensemble scenes are all about. I wanted to make sure we were definitely digging into everyone’s reactions: the way that they’re listening, how they are behaving when they’re not the ones speaking, and how they respond.”
Shimek was really thrilled with how the cast turned out and found each one did a tremendous job in their respective roles. "Not a single one of them is a weak point," he says. “You can just feel the amount of work that they put into creating a real person for their character and bringing that to the table. When you get all of them together in a room and they start interacting with each other, it just does everything to bring that story to life. You just feel these people are really there, are really experiencing these things, that their personalities are bumping into each other, and causing some strife, headaches, or some alliances.”
Since so much of the film is location-based and therefore not shot chronologically, Shimek was incredibly impressed with how quick the actors and actresses were able to adapt to this. “It really shows how talented our cast is,” he says. “They know the person they created well enough that you tell them when we’re experiencing that character, and they will find that moment and be able to present it.”
Shimek's wife, Kristi, edited Invitation To A Murder; however, she was unable to edit Murder At The Embassy. “Our schedules haven’t crossed as often as I'd like, as she’s very busy,” he says. “Anytime I get to work with her it’s very special.” Shimek's close friend Matthew Jensen, who had worked as Kristi’s assistant editor for a long time, edited Murder At The Embassy. “He’s a super talented guy and I was super lucky he was available and interested in working together… It was great having that preexisting relationship, especially since he had worked with Kristi in the past. It was fun.”
Although she was not the editor for Murder At The Embassy, Kristi still assisted with the movie. “I leaned on her a lot for her takes on how we could improve the movie,” comments Shimek. “If you have somebody in your life that is just able to give you expert advice about things when you're in the process of things, it is just indispensable.”
Overall, Shimek had a wonderful experience working on Murder At The Embassy and is excited for the future of the franchise. There is already a planned third installment in the Miranda Green Mystery franchise, titled The Mystery Of The Golden Spear. “We keep trying to make something unique because we don’t want to be serving up the same thing over and over again,” Shimek says. “For me in particular, it's important to dig into [Miranda’s] personal character growth in number three and present another take, adjustment, or movement in the genre.”