Director Marc Munden of Lord of the Flies Brings Structure to Chaos

      There are challenging shoots, and then there's Lord of the Flies. Director Marc Munden dedicated 17 weeks to filming in a Malaysian jungle with a cast of 40 boys, all aged 12 and under, many of whom had never acted before. The young performers were accompanied by chaperones, tutors, and parents who all kept a close eye on the production. Additionally, the shoot experienced four days of delays due to inclement weather in just the first two weeks.

      "In larger crowd scenes, whenever there were more than four or five boys on set, chaos ensued. There’s always someone looking at a camera," Munden chuckles.

      Despite the challenges, Munden succeeded. The miniseries— the latest adaptation of William Golding's remarkable 1954 novel about boys stranded on an island after a plane crash— is as relevant today as ever. The island serves as a metaphor for the primal nature of our so-called civilized society.

      Any hope of the boys transforming their new environment into a paradise is shattered within moments of the first episode: Jack (Lox Pratt) mocks a clever but sensitive boy (David McKenna) by calling him “Fatty,” and the good-natured Ralph (Winston Sawyers) offers a slightly less derogatory nickname, “Piggy.”

      The name is accepted, establishing a power dynamic: the intellectual Piggy is portrayed as foolish; Jack takes on the role of the bully; while Ralph attempts to manage Jack without confronting him. Within hours, the island is ablaze.

      "It was a steep learning curve for them, but they took their work seriously and adapted quickly," Munden reflects. "I always rehearse, so we practiced in a rehearsal space, experimented, and I tried to communicate with them as if they were adults. They responded well, and learned from one another as well; they were very observant."

      Munden points out that Lord of the Flies is writer Jack Thorne’s follow-up to the award-winning Adolescence, which portrays how manosphere influences misguide a 13-year-old boy in detrimental ways.

      Set in the 1950s, Lord of the Flies lacks the influence of social media—only the inherent darkness of human nature is at play.

      “They are not adolescents; they are children,” Munden states.

      Bullying as the Mechanism of Lord of the Flies

      In Lord of the Flies, Piggy (David McKenna) faces threats from Jack (Lox Pratt). Photo Credit: J Redza/Eleven/Sony Pictures Television – Credit: Sony Pictures Television

      However, being children gave the actors a profound insight into the underlying narrative.

      "Those boys understood what bullying entails," Munden explains. “The story reflects societal breakdown resulting from the bullies not facing any challenges.”

      The extended runtime—similar to Adolescence, Lord of the Flies unfolds across four episodes—enabled Munden to explore greater depth in the four main characters and what they symbolize compared to previous adaptations. The novel has been adapted before: there was a 1963 black-and-white film by Peter Brook and a 1990 version by Harry Hook. Munden thinks Brook’s adaptation influenced Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 film Apocalypse Now.

      "I believe Peter Brook and Coppola must have had discussions about it in the ’60s," Munden suggests. “There’s footage showing Peter Brook visiting Coppola at his home.”

      Munden notes that his interpretation of Lord of the Flies pays tribute to Apocalypse Now in a scene from the fourth episode. While many recent pop culture phenomena have drawn inspiration from Golding—such as Lost and Yellowjackets—Munden chose not to take inspiration from those successes.

      His primary influences included Lindsay Anderson’s 1968 British school satire If..., Nicolas Roeg’s 1971 survival film Walkabout, Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s 2008 film Johnny Mad Dog, and Alejandro Landes’ 2019 film Monos, both of which deal with child soldiers.

      “Lots of concepts were swirling in my head during filming,” he says. “Trying to make sense of the chaos.”

      Lord of the Flies is now available for streaming on Netflix.

      Main image: Marc Munden directs David McKenna in Lord of the Flies. Photo credit: Sony Pictures Television.