Mutual Casualty: The Ambitious Prequel

Spoiler alert for Mutual Casualty and Demons

This project was a long time coming for sure. When we were working on Demons, we knew we wanted to expand upon Dave and Oliver's story, one way or another. If you happen to remember the ending to that film, we actually opened the possibility of a sequel using the cliffhanger of Dave having his own 'demons' too. But during a late afternoon meeting in September of how we wished to move forwards, while discussing the story of the sequel, a wave of creative inspiration hit us, and subsequently a prequel in the name of Mutual Casualty sprung to reality.

Mutual Casualty (2019) - The prequel to Demons is available to watch on YouTube

The idea for the film was really ambitious, and we were okay with that. We wanted to really enrich the story between these two characters so a prequel just made sense, despite having no plans of a prequel when producing the original Demons. This left a mammoth task for the creative team to write, as all the story elements had to match up with the original. And there were 3 particular points of interest we wanted to introduce and explore throughout the prequel to set us up perfectly for Demons and again, the possible sequel afterwards.

Demons - The original in the series is available to watch on YouTube

1. How and why do they both have 'demons'?

The story of Demons jumped straight into the lives of Oliver and Dave, and a lot of the story actually goes over how Oliver resolved his problems. There was no real origin story of how they got there in the first place. Plus the fact that Dave's 'demons' are only revealed at the very end, so even less is known about how he has a similar voice in his head. So the most important thing for the prequel was to answer this very question, and the creative team found a very touching way to answer it.

At the start of the film we learn that a friend of theirs committed suicide, and the two were taking it very hard. A little further in the film, we discover that Oliver's first interaction with the demon's voice actually came from something Dave had said to him. When he consults Dave on the matter, we find out that Dave had developed a similar demonic voice but he denies its existence to Oliver.

It sounds pretty bland when simply typing it out here but the story plays out really well in the film, leaving the fans of the original Demons left with a pretty satisfying, but emotional, answer to the question they've always had about the two characters' demonic voices.

2. Why was Dave such an arse in Demons?

I think this was a question that lingered in the minds of many after watching Demons. Dave was definitely an arsehole of a character in Demons and for no apparent reason it seemed throughout the film. It didn't quite make much sense for Oliver to be friends with him at all. Was it because of his own demons revealed at the end? Or is it just how he was as a person? Obviously, as the writer and director, we had our reasons to make this character act in such a way, but to the audience it wasn't so clear. Thus, while writing the prequel, it was definitely a question we wanted to address.

Many must have been surprised then when Mutual Casualty portrayed him as a much nicer, but lost child. Or at least he started out that way. The film reveals that Dave bumps into George, a friend of Noah's (the friend who had committed suicide) who dealt him drugs. The film later shows that Dave had become a drug addict, and for most of the time we saw him in Demons, he was actually as high as a kite and not actually himself. He starts to hang out more and more with his new drug-fuelled friends and less with Oliver, leaving him to handle his demons alone.

3. What happens to Dave and Oliver relationship after the two drift apart?

This question has probably nagged a few ever since the release of Demons, especially with that cliffhanger at the end of Demons. And although my team and I may have all the answers for this question, the ending of Mutual Casualty doesn't help answer this question at all, as viewers were left with another cliffhanger in the revelation that there exists two letters from Noah to each of our characters. Mutual Casualty and Demons never revealed the contents of these letters, which leaves a big old question mark for the audience as the films happen back-to-back in their timeline.

Did Dave ever read his letter? Did he open Oliver's in secret? Did they reunite and read them together? More questions can be asked about Dave's demons. Does he resolve them? Does he ever tell Oliver? What actually caused them? Worse yet, Mutual Casualty introduces three new characters to the seires: George, Harry and Noah. How did they come to know each other? Who exactly was Noah? How was he a drug addict while at the same time hiding that from Dave and Oliver?

So not only does this question remain unanswered for the time being, Mutual Casualty may have actually asked more questions than it has answered.

But with all that being said, we like to see Mutual Casualty as a creative success. Although it may not have been as clear as we would have liked, the film has given us exactly what we need to build the foundation of these two characters.

Will There be a sequel?

I have been asked this many times, and I think every detail of these two stories make the answer very clear. But if I have to say it outright, then yes, there is a sequel planned. The film already has a title and a pilot script. Unfortunately there have been some set-backs to the production, given the fact that Hong Kong has been partially shut down due to the deadly coronavirus outbreak, but we do intend for a 2020 release date. And if there's anything I can say about it, it is going to be one hell of a film.