Australian filmmaker/actor Talia Zucker is a fellow of the Sundance Screenwriters Lab and an alumna of the AFI Directing Workshop for Women. Talia completed her short film CHILD through the AFI Directing Workshop for Women. The film had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival as one of 12 shorts selected to play in the official short competition. CHILD also received the Radiator IP Award at the Torino Film Festival. Talia was the recipient of the Screen NSW #SheDirects initiative and is currently in development on a new TV series. She was also selected to take part in the Universal Directors Initiative.
Her feature, In Vitro, received major production funding from Screen Australia & Screen NSW. Co-written by Zucker, In Vitro premiered at this year’s Sydney Film Festival and will continue its festival run before being released by Madman Entertainment later in 2024. In the tense sci-fi thriller, Talia is Layla, who lives on a remote cattle farm in the not-too-distant future with her husband, Jack. A biotech researcher, Jack has developed a new livestock breeding process. As their struggling farm and growing isolation strain their marriage, Layla begins to sense a disturbing presence lurking on the land.
As a writer, what was it like seeing your vision come to life?
Talia Zucker: It was quite a long process. You spend so many years writing and developing a script, and then the shooting is so short-lived. But being able to experience it as an actor was really great. Tom (McKeith) and I had worked together for so long. So it was a nice reward to see it done.
How did you come up with such an interesting concept?
Zucker: I had this germ of an idea—a sci-fi concept about a man trying to replace his deceased wife. And then we developed it from her point of view, where it had this scary feel to it. With the cows and the farm, everything just piled on. We eventually had to contain the story with minimal characters and locations.
How did you prepare for the role? Did you draw from your friends or family to so convincingly play Layla, a cattle rancher’s wife?
Zucker: My cousin is a farmer, and she had me come over and fix her fence (laughs). We were writing for so long, and it finally went into production. So we were really gearing up for that. Once we got funding and producers were on board, it was full steam ahead. Tom and I decided to pre-shoot the film. We shot every single scene on our iPhones. I got to test out the scene as an actor with all the emotions and how I felt in the scenes. That was the best preparation because once we got on set, we were in the most rural locations. We really didn’t have time to muck around. We had to get right into it. So that was a nice exercise in pre-pre-production.
The location seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere.
Zucker: (laughs) Yeah. It was way out there. And we had the craziest weather—torrential rain and storms. We shot it in the summer, if you can believe that. It definitely got me in the headspace of Layla.
Do you have a favorite scene? And why do you like it?
Zucker: My favorite scene was when Jack and Layla were at the dinner table. The film’s quite sparse on dialogue. So it allowed us to explore the relationship dynamic of the two main characters. My other favorite scene was discovering their dog under the house, creating that eerie moment. I even felt a bit scared doing it.
When Layla discovered her son’s room had been originally painted the color she had picked out, it was a clever foreshadowing device.
Zucker: We wanted to create this kind of backroom. We don’t really know how many times that room had been painted. It seemed so subtle, but I think people get it.
You’ve done plays and films. What have you learned about show business that really surprised you?
Zucker: I started when I was quite young. I was living in LA for quite some time, going on auditions and taking classes. So I thought, I’ll write a film, and that will give me a role to play. It was low budget. But I was surprised at how long that actually took. It was deceivingly challenging as an actor and writer. Tom and I worked together for quite some time, but it was a really nice reward to finally make the film we’d been working on for so long.
What do you see as the core message of this film?
Zucker: Ultimately, it’s the version of Layla’s self that enables her to leave her toxic marriage and relationship. She was what was needed to get out of her horrible situation. It kind of feels metaphoric in that way.
What film or actor inspired you to become an actor?
Zucker: I was a theater actor in high school and right out of high school. I studied and acted throughout Europe, including Moscow and London. I saw Anne-Marie Duff play Joan of Arc at the National Theatre. And Cate Blanchett was inspiring. So, great theater was what got me going.
What’s next for you?
Zucker: Well, I’ve had two babies since this last film. I’m just now exploring some new projects. I have another psychological horror/thriller that I’m working on.
What were you like in high school? The girl most likely to…?
Zucker: (laughs) I was a drama nerd. I did a lot of plays, in school and out. I wasn’t in school a lot because I was already acting.
In Vitro is available in select theaters, digitally, and on demand.
Alex A. Kecskes is a published author of "Healer a Novel" and "The Search for Dr. Noble"—both now available on Amazon. He has written hundreds of film reviews and celebrity interviews for a wide variety of online and print outlets. He has covered red carpet premieres and Comic-Con events for major films and independent releases.
