Welcome to the world of The Surrender, a new horror movie that turns grief into ghoulishness. The Surrender tells the story of a mother and daughter whose already fraught relationship is tested when the family’s patriarch dies and a stranger is enlisted to bring him back from the dead. The film is from the mind of writer/director Julia Max, who makes her feature film directorial debut after her 2020 short Pieces of Me garnered over one million views after a successful festival run.

The mother/daughter relationship at the heart of The Surrender is brought to life by stars Colby Minifie and accomplished superhero spoof series The Boys, and Burton’s long resume includes Grey’s Anatomy and Big Trouble in Little China. Both actors were encouraged early on in the process to see their characters not as villains, but as people deserving of sympathy.

ScreenRant’s Liam Crowley spoke with The Surrender director Julia Max and stars Colby Minifie and Kate Burton at the site's SXSW media suite. The trio shared information about where the idea for the movie came from, the complexities of mother-daughter relationships, and the film’s original title. Plus, Minifie shared how much she knows about The Boys season 5 ending.

Julia Max Brought Elements Of Her Own Life Into The Surrender

“What Is The Absolute Worst Way That This Could Go?”

As happy an occasion as The Surrender premiering at SXSW must be, the movie was born from real-world grief. “This was loosely inspired by my mother and I going through this experience with my stepfather when he ed away,” director Julia Max said, quickly clarifying, “We did not try to resurrect him. I’m just going to put that out there.” “But,” Max continued, “[my mother] hired a death doula, and I did not know what that was. I was very worried about it, and kept thinking, ‘What is the absolute worst way this could go?’ And that is The Surrender.”

Ultimately, though, the movie helped Fox on her journey: “This has been how I’ve been able to process my grief over that,” the director shared, continuing, “It has been incredibly therapeutic, and has actually really helped me understand my mother a lot more, because in order to write about the mother-daughter relationship, you have to think [about] the other person’s perspective on things.”

Colby Minifie & Kate Burton Talk Finding Comion For Their Characters

“Mother-Daughter Relationships Are Extremely Complex”

Max directed both Colbie Minifie and Kate Burton to approach their characters with sympathetic, open mindsets. When asked why their characters could potentially be seen as villains, Minifie jumped in with, “I mean, I play a lot of villains,” adding, “but I promise I’m a nice person.” She continued on a reflective note: “I think mother-daughter relationships are extremely complex, and I was not great to my mother when I was in high school. Hormones are raging and all of a sudden you’re like, ‘Why are you controlling me? Why are you telling me what to do?’”

But “Whenever you play anybody,” Minifie continued, “there’s never any reason to judge them, because judging will [only] just make you not understand them.… That's what we ended up doing with this. We had to show up [with], ‘What is Megan actually feeling at this moment?’ And she’s justified in those feelings.”

I don’t think of her as a villain at all.

Burton had to do that exploration, too, saying, “The biggest challenge for me playing this character was the notion of, ‘Why did I need to do what I was doing?’ We all go through the death of loved ones–certainly, when you’re my age, you go through it more often–and I thought, ‘Okay, what is it in her that makes her feel she cannot do this?’ She must try to keep him. She must try to bring him back from the dead.”

“I don’t think of her as a villain at all,” Burton elaborated, continuing, “She truly believes this is what she’s supposed to do. In this grieving process, she’s losing herself, and maybe she just wants to get back to herself. It’s crazy, but that’s what this movie is. It’s fantastic.”

The Surrender Originally Had A Very Different Title

Max Changed It Because She Was Worried About People’s Expectations

If The Surrender doesn’t immediately evoke images of trying to resurrect the dead, at least it’s not conjuring up the images that some feared the movie’s original title would: “It was originally ‘The Wailing Women’,” she confessed, adding, “then we’re like, ‘I don’t know about this.’” Though Burton responded with a quick, “I do a lot of wailing.”

It came down to expectations, said Max: “I got really nervous that people were going to be like, ‘So it’s just women crying.’ I was like, ‘Oh, no. That’s not what this is. There’s actually a lot of dark humor in it as well.’” As to how they found The Surrender, “We’re like, ‘My Surrender–that’s really what this is all about, isn’t it?’ All of this is about learning how to let go and accept and deal with grief.’”

The Surrender Gave Minifie A Welcome Break From The Boys

“It Gave Me Something Very Different To Do”

Colby Minifie is as excited about The Boys season 5 as any of us. “Those writers really know how to do it,” the actor said after revealing they’re still in the middle of production on the show’s final season, “They actually haven’t given us the last two episodes yet. But it’s really building in a way where I’m like, ‘Oh my God, what’s going to happen next?’ I can’t wait to read those episodes.”

However, Minifie knows that playing Ashley has been a difficult emotional journey. “It’s been seven years working on that character, and it’s crazy being in that headspace for so long. That’s why I was so grateful for this movie. It’s still heightened material in a very different way, but it gave me something very different to do. I learned so much doing this movie.”

The Surrender premiered March 9 at SXSW 2025 with additional screenings on March 12, 12pm and 9:30pm CT at Alamo Lamar.

Check out our other SXSW 2025 interviews here:

• The Ballad of Wallis Island
• Another Simple Favor
• American Sweatshop
• The ant 2
• Surviving Earth
• The Threesome
• The Astronaut
• Hallow Road
• O'Dessa
• Sweetness
• The Studio
• It Ends
• How Was Your Weekend?
• Bella Ramsey & The Last of Us
• Pedro Pascal & The Last of Us

Source: Screen Rant Plus