Feature Image: Press

“It’s important to find your people. Don’t feel like you have to find this incredible producer or person who’s going to give you loads of money and change your life” says Lauerence Tratalos, one-half of the Northern duo responsible for Misper; a feature debut for director Harry Sheriff and script writer Tratalos.

The film follows Leonard played by Sameul Blenkin (Black Mirror), an aimless hotel employee feeling stuck in the metaphorical break room of life. He, along with the rest of staff at The Grand Hotel, work in the crumbling tomb of the once extravagant fictional seaside resort of Southdown. The story revolves around them coming to terms with the case of a missing person who they worked with, Elle (Game of Thrones star Emily Carey).

“I know it’s cliche but the hotel is a character in itself,” says Tratalos at their screening of Misper at the Manchester Film festival.” The two initially found the location for a different project but the urge to make this the setting of a future film couldn’t be shaken. “We always had The Grand [Hotel] in the back of our minds, even though Misper was originally set in a convenience store. When we went back we thought why don’t we just set it in the hotel? It felt right.” says Tratalos. The directors couldn’t remember what the script looked like without the hotel, which provided freedom as they transformed it into an apartment complex. “It was like having our own studio in a way, we had free rein to go wherever we wanted and the residents were super nice. We filmed in so many different spots and at night.”

The pair and film crew spent over a month in the hotel, living in the building, filming throughout the week. They ate, slept and breathed the production of Misper: “It was so great to not have to travel every morning. We built this really nice routine where after we wrapped [filming] we’d have a drink, talk about the day just gone and plan for the next one. It felt nice that we were waking up in this nice communal space,” says Sheriff. He laughs, recalling how a slight sense of cabin fever culminated for himself and Tratalos as they were the only two who never went home on the weekends.

As much as this evidently showcases the pair’s dedication to Misper, it also shows the bond required to be willing to spend so much time together. Sheriff and Tratalos first met in 2019 during lockdown and were put in contact by a producer, a mutual friend, and the two instantly hit it off. “We had similar references in terms of stuff we liked and a similar sense of humour, kind of a weird dark one I guess,” says Tratalos, reminiscing about their initial interaction. Tratalos had various projects in the works but wasn’t able to get them made and Sheriff was a prolific maker of short films, pursuing attending the National Film and Television School.

The two worked on a number of short films. Their first, Don’t Worry About Harry, got Sheriff accepted at the NFTS. Misper has a throughline, in its comedic timing from, Don’t Worry About Harry. Sheriff stars, something he’d do frequently to keep budgets low and allow for a level of control over his films. However he moved focus to the directorial aspect of filmmaking after he got accepted into the film school. “I do miss acting. When I got into the NFTS I decided I didn’t want to act because I didn’t want to direct myself while studying directing. I wanted to fully focus on that as a craft, because the school was pretty intense,” he says.

Tatalos and Sheriff’s bond grew as the latter studied, his school permitting them to collaborate. “There were some things Laurence couldn’t attend but he was on set everyday for the shoots and often looking over the edits,” said Sherriff. “I was very lucky that the school was like that because they could’ve been strict. I think they saw our dynamic and understood. They tend to take every student on in their own circumstance.”

This allowed them to better understand each other’s creative methods, ultimately leading to their newest, most adventurous project elevated by its star-studded cast. “Verity Norton, our casting agent, told us to go big on the cast. Obviously you always want to go as big as possible but she really pushed us. She gave us the belief in ourselves to really go for it, she’s fundamental to getting that amazing cast,” says Tratalos.

Sheriff credits how integral Sunil Patel (who plays Khalid) was to Misper and how his performance is responsible for one of his favorite scenes in the film. “He’s so effortless and natural and he did another one of our shorts [Jeremy: a nightmare] opposite Jordan Brookes and was great in that too. I was so glad that we could get Sunil because he’s a really big part of this film.” Without giving spoilers, the scene highlights the severity of Leonard’s state of mind as the two have an authentic and awkward heart-to-heart, making for an impactful and funny part of their film.

Sheriff and Tratalos often focus on dream sequences and sleep deprivation in their films. It’s a source of fascination for Tratalo, who had periods of sleepwalking as a kid. “I was eight years old and I woke up in the middle of the resort completely naked. I walked through my parents bedroom, climbed over a balcony and woke up in the middle of the resort. Thank god we were on the ground floor.” Sheriff’s response to sleep as a recurring theme is straight to the point: “Well-slept characters aren’t as interesting. We like the night time and we like characters that are on the edge.”

He continues “We talk about the nighttime odyssey film Afterhours a lot. We love filmmakers that play with nightmares and dreams.” They consider David Lynch the epitome of this — a king of the absurdist dream-scape scenario. Misper also explores characters observing from the outskirts, with the directors referencing Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone Of Interest. This narrative has been loosely inspired by Sheriff’s own life. He explains how he and his colleagues were affected by the 2017 Manchester arena bombing. “I was working in the Arndale [shopping center] when the bomb went off at the arena. I was meant to be at work the next day and I didn’t go because we didn’t know fully what had happened.”

“People I worked with were in bits and it was interesting seeing how these different people processed something so surreal. I was surprised at how affected I was when I had nothing to do with it or any connections. Coming back to work, I started  feeling very on-edge and anxious and then [began] getting obsessed with the news.” Peripheral grief is a central theme of Misper. 

Sheriff and Tratalos are now taking their debut feature across the pond, where they will be the closing film at the Maryland Film Festival in Baltimore for their US premiere, followed by screenings in Dallas and Chattanooga in Tennessee. “I think it will be received well, I think watching Misper with different audiences is one of the joys of it. I’m just excited to see how it goes down with a different audience and I think the specificity and the Britishness of it will be its strength,” says Sheriff. Who then shares his anxiety surrounding reactions from a different crowd. “I’ll be nervous but you’ve got to trust the programmers and understand that they know what their audience will respond to.”

Tratalos and Sheriff exemplify the northern talent platformed by the Manchester Film Festival. Sheriff offers advice to budding filmmakers and the idea that budget doesn’t always equal success. “I think films need to focus on the authenticity of cinema, you can have £20,000 and all the fancy equipment and fall on your face if it’s not really saying anything,” says Sheriff. “As soon as you make something that touches people, for example a guy being broken up with by his girlfriend and it’s a relatable experience, that will go around the world.”