PopHorror Let's Get Scared
I recently had the opportunity to watch a phenomenal psychological horror film called Welcome to Mercy (read our review – here). It’s hauntingly breathtaking, and one of the masterminds behind this story is Kristen Ruhlin, who not only wrote the screenplay but also starred in the film.
Read on to learn about her career in the film industry, what inspired her to write this story, what it was like to play Madaline, and more!
PopHorror – Hi, Kristen! Thanks for talking with Pophorror! What inspired you to work in the film industry?
Kristen Ruhlin – Seeing inspiring movies, hearing untold stories, and seeing the arcs of the human psyche in characters inspire me. It’s relatable and different, and I love exploring new worlds and creating my own version of reality. My favorite movies of inspiration as a kid have been Labyrinth, Poltergeist, Gladiator, The Shining and Rosemary’s Baby. You can probably see parts in Welcome to Mercy that pay homage to those movies.
PopHorror – I definitely can. You not only wrote the screenplay for Welcome to Mercy, you also starred in it. Do you prefer acting or writing?
Kristen Ruhlin – When I was younger, I loved acting and only acting. However, being an actor conflicts with my Type A personality and needing some control and creativity – bring in the writing. Writing gives me not only control of my world, characters and story, but it gives me more control of my life schedule with work and being a single mom. I’m sort of a hermit, too, so writing suits me.
PopHorror – That makes sense! Where did you come up with the idea for the story?
Kristen Ruhlin – They say, “Write what you know.” The truth can torture you. Like people. I was born and raised Catholic, and I wanted to explore the mystery, beauty and humanity that surrounds it. In my 30 some years of life, I’ve been through a lot… I’ve been married, I’ve had kids, I lost loves of my life to death and I’ve been in trapped situations no one should ever be in, and some of those times were during the creation of this script. I almost let go – of myself and this project – because I was so defeated, broken and lost. But my children gave me purpose to keep pushing on, to be a better version of myself, to not give up, to fight.
PopHorror – That’s powerful! So, is it safe to say that you can relate to your character, Madaline?
Kristen Ruhlin – Madaline is the same as me. We both come from a history of not knowing the full truth, falling and trying to pick ourselves up. I grew up agnostic, not sure if there was God. But in this process, when I wrote it, things happened to me. I can’t explain why or how some of them came together or what one thing led to the other, but I know there is a God and goodness can prevail if you want it to bad enough… but more importantly, I know evil exists, too. I like to write uplifting things now.
PopHorror – Throughout the story, there’s twists and turns, and you’re sometimes not sure what is really going on. Was that your intention? To build the suspense?
Kristen Ruhlin – If things are unclear at times, it’s partially because it’s meant to be a dream world. Like when you’re asleep, and you’re in one place and sort of transport to another, and you just go with it. A lot of it was also from the first draft that maybe got lost in translation, which was like, for example… Madaline’s phone conversations in the convent are meant to be the line to reality or real life, so when she is speaking into it, to her daughter or mom or priest, it’s her actual voice in the room back home, making contact. It’s hard to convey it all, but I think Tommy and everyone did a great job trying to capture as much as we could in 100 minutes.
PopHorror – Oh, it was told beautifully and everyone did a fantastic job! The actress who plays young Madaline was quite impressive. Did you expect such a great performance from her?
Kristen Ruhlin – She was fantastic. What a little trooper! Totally blew us all away with her positive attitude, and her performance was top notch. She also did all of her own stunt work, dropping 50 feet into the well shots, which were a blast. We both had so much fun on those days. She’ll go far for sure. She was a great find.
PopHorror – Couldn’t agree more. There’s some pretty intense scenes throughout the film. Did you find any particularly hard to do?
Kristen Ruhlin – Being soaked in -5 degree weather in the Baltic Sea was my least favorite. (laughs) I was fighting hypothermia a few times, one specifically in the Bell Tower when Madaline is looking at old photos. You can see in my eyes there I’m a little gone… that wasn’t acting, that was just me shutting down. (laughs) Tommy pushed me. I’m glad he did, because some of those moments are the best of my career as an actor, and I have him to thank for that.
PopHorror – That scene was incredible, so your hard work paid off. With such an shocking ending, do you think there could be plans for a sequel?
Kristen Ruhlin – I would love there to be a sequel, of course. Tommy and I came up with the very end shot, actually, on the fly while shooting. We just grabbed it and were like BOOM it was it all in her head, or was it? Dun dun dun! It’s all fun.
PopHorror – Such a tease! This is a great thriller. Do you plan to write more screenplays with this genre in the future?
Kristen Ruhlin – I’ve written some already… another horror called Pareidolia with my best friend and writing partner, Tyler Barnes. It’s being shopped around right now. I’ve spent most of my time writing A Female Get Z coming of age story about a young girl who goes on a world wide adventure and unlocks some of the biggest mysteries in life… awesome world building opportunities again. That’s for Cary Granat, and has been his pet project since he was at Walden Media. I’ve been doing my best to bring the story to life and do it justice. I love it and think it could be really inspiring to younger generation.
PopHorror – Sounds amazing! Do you have any other projects you’d like to talk about?
Kristen Ruhlin – I’m producing another movie this fall with Stormchaser Films with an all female production company which I’m the Head of Development at. Then we head back to Europe in early 2019 for another period piece called Shadows On The Grass. So, I’m excited to see what the year brings.
PopHorror – Thanks again for talking with PopHorror, Kristen! Welcome to Mercy it will be coming to select theaters, VOD and via digital platforms in the U.S. on November 2!
