Marc Munden, the director of Lord of the Flies, Instills Order Amid Chaos

      There are intricate film shoots, and then there's Lord of the Flies. Director Marc Munden dedicated 17 weeks to filming in a Malaysian jungle, managing a cast of 40 boys, all aged 12 and under, many of whom had never acted before. The young actors were accompanied by chaperones, tutors, and parents, who all closely supervised the production. The shoot faced delays of four days due to inclement weather in just its first two weeks.

      “In large crowd scenes, once you have more than four or five boys on set, it quickly becomes chaotic. Someone is always drawn to the camera,” Munden chuckles.

      Despite the numerous challenges, Munden succeeded. The miniseries – the newest interpretation of William Golding’s remarkable 1954 novel about boys stranded on an island following a plane crash – resonates just as powerfully today. The island serves as a symbol for the brutality present in our supposedly civilized society.

      Any aspirations that the boys might transform their new environment into a utopia shatter within moments of the first episode: Jack (Lox Pratt) mocks a bright yet vulnerable boy (David McKenna) with the nickname "Fatty," while the friendly Ralph (Winston Sawyers) suggests a slightly less derogatory name, "Piggy."

      This name is embraced, establishing a clear dynamic: the intelligent Piggy is perceived as inept; Jack becomes the bully; and Ralph seeks to manage Jack’s behavior instead of confronting him directly. Within hours, chaos ensues, and the island is ablaze.

      “It was a steep learning process for them, I believe. But they approached the work earnestly, adapting quickly,” Munden reflects. “I always rehearse, so we practiced in a rehearsal space, tried out different ideas, and I aimed to treat them like adults, speaking to them directly. They responded well to that and soon began learning from one another; they were very observant.”

      Munden points out that Lord of the Flies is writer Jack Thorne’s follow-up to the acclaimed Adolescence, which illustrates how manosphere influencers misguidedly affect a 13-year-old boy.

      Set in the 1950s, Lord of the Flies lacks the influence of social media — it focuses solely on the darker aspects of human nature.

      “They aren’t adolescents. They’re children,” Munden emphasizes.

      Bullying as a Tool in Lord of the Flies

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

      However, their status as children provided Munden’s actors with an intrinsic grasp of the story's essence.

      “Those boys came into this fully aware of what bullying entails,” Munden explains. “It’s fundamentally about a society disintegrating because bullies go unchallenged.”

      The extended runtime — much like Adolescence, Lord of the Flies unfolds over four episodes — permitted Munden to develop the four main characters and their symbolic meanings more deeply than previous adaptations. The novel was adapted into a black-and-white film by Peter Brook in 1963 and again by Harry Hook in 1990, and Munden believes Brook’s version inspired Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 Apocalypse Now.

      “I suspect Peter Brook and Coppola must have discussed this at some point in the '60s,” Munden suggests. “There’s evidence of Peter Brook visiting Coppola’s home and similar interactions.”

      Munden’s interpretation of Lord of the Flies pays tribute to Apocalypse Now in a sequence in the fourth episode. Even though several contemporary pop culture entities have drawn influence from Golding — such as Lost and Yellowjackets — Munden refrained from incorporating elements from these popular works.

      His primary influences encompassed Lindsay Anderson’s 1968 British satire If…, Nicolas Roeg’s 1971 survival film Walkabout, the 2008 film Johnny Mad Dog by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, and Alejandro Landes’ 2019 film Monos, the latter two focusing on child soldiers.

      “A lot of thoughts were swirling in my mind during filming as we attempted to capture the chaos,” he shares.

      Lord of the Flies is currently available to stream on Netflix.

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