Netflix’s Sirens has become an instant hit for the streaming platform thanks in part to rich performances and a winding story that plays with ideas of affluence and power dynamics. The series was created by Molly Smith Metzler based on her own play, Elemeno Pea. By the end of the series, Julianne Moore’s Michaela “Kiki” Kell has fallen from grace, seemingly replaced by her onetime assistant Simone, played by Milly Alcock.

This journey is emphasized by the opening and closing shots of the short Netflix series, with Kiki standing at the edge of a cliff at the beginning, and Simone standing in the same location just before the credits roll. While moments like that are often built into a screenplay, director Nicole Kassell and director of photography Gregory Middleton ensured that the first few episodes of the series were visually arresting and emotionally resonant. The pair have collaborated on a number of projects before including 2019’s Watchmen, and Middleton helped shape the look of Marvel’s Moon Knight.

ScreenRant spoke with Nicole Kassell and Gregory Middleton about their work on Sirens. The pair discussed crafting the look of the series and the location itself, and establishing the tone of key moments. Plus, Middleton reflected on coming up with the look of Moon Knight.

Sirens’ Filmmakers Weren’t Inspired By The Play It Was Based On

Their References Were Much Weirder

Sirens may have been adapted from creator Molly Smith Metzler’s Elemeno Pea, but the filmmakers behind bringing the series to the screen didn’t use it as inspiration. “I never thought about the fact that it was based on a play,” director Nicole Kassell said. “When I received the project, I read the pilot … and there were so many visual treats already there, whether it’s the house on the cliff, the staircase that goes on forever, [or] people dressed as Easter eggs. My mind immediately went to this place of world building.”

For Kassell, the challenge was less about adapting a stage work for the screen and more about “how to push the boundaries on this, because the genre is very saturated with realism, whether it’s The White Lotus, The Perfect Couple, Succession, [or] Big Little Lies.It was [about] how to take something so in this genre but make it distinctive and different.”

“The discussion you and I had,” Gregory Middleton said to Kassell, “[was,] ‘Are we going to make it comedic, or is it also serious?’ because it’s in both spaces. It could be a satire and have a more negative or judgmental look at things, or it could be a journey into something that’s maybe a bit confusing at times. We were trying to navigate that.”

Kassell shared some of the references she and Middleton did have. “Two of the visual references and tonal references I had when I first started talking to Molly were Raising Arizona and Rosemary’s Baby,” she said, “and those two films should never be in the same sentence. That could be terrifying to people, like, ‘Well, what’s that?’ And that’s the point–that’s Sirens. And it scared people, honestly, until the day we dropped. We just weren’t sure if the audience would go with it, and it’s been so fun to see people just eat it up.”

The World Of Sirens Was Designed To Seduce You

The Director & DP Wanted Audiences To Experience “Being Bewitched”

In Homer’s Odyssey, sirens were half-bird-half-woman creatures that called so powerfully to sailors that they became bewitched. While there are no mythological Greek monsters in Netflix’s Sirens, Nicole Kassell and Gregory Middleton did work to creatue an alluring world. “One of the key things that Nikki and I worked [on] when we first talked about it was how to have the first-person experience of being bewitched in soem way, or being seduced by the world.”

“[Our goal was] to visually create something that would be seductive for Simone, for example, and be the opposite of her home in Buffalo.”

“I had this really stylized vision,” Kassell shared, “but story always had to come first.”

This work manifested in creating a world for Sirens that was visually entrancing, lush, and affluent. Once viewers (like Simone) are drawn in to the visuals, the filmmakers felt they could lean into the tone of dialogue. “When things are a bit off in some ways,” Middleton shared, “whether they’re funny or [something else,] we know we’re going somewhere. We can see … where characters might be confused or why they might be motivated. And that might help mix the tone in a way, because I’m laughing sometimes, but also I’m crying because there are really intense emotions.”

Discussing the show’s tone, Kassell added, “My favorite feedback I’ve gotten is that it makes people aware of how badly they want to be able to categorize someone as the villain or the hero, and it calls you on your own judgmental self.” She continued, saying, “Every character is so human, and the stakes are so universal–whether you’re dealing with sibling issues, an ailing parent, wealth, poverty, [or] class status. Everyone is so vulnerable in this setting because any minute, you could be excommunicated.”

Sirens’ Episode 2 Panic Attack Scene Explained

“It Reveals This Enormous Wealth Of Backstory”

Sirens episode 2 is a big one for the relationship between Simone and Devon, as Simone–who has seemed engrossed in a wildly different life than Devon could imagine–has a full-blown panic attack. Kassell weighed in on directing that sequence, saying “It is such a deeply wrenching moment. I feel like it reveals this enormous wealth of backstory just in the physicality–that Simone can weep in her sister’s arms and take safety in her sister’s arms, and that Devin knows exactly what to do. She’s in control, she feels needed, and it’s so beautiful.”

“It’s also the end of the episode,” Kassell said, “so it needed to have that kind of visual language that lets you know, ‘Okay, we’re transitioning to close” … We knew we’d have that music and the cuddling, [so] the rotating high angle coming down was just how I wanted to visually indicate [that] we’ve swelled to this grand closure.”

Middleton also spoke to that moment’s importance given what audiences had seen of Nicole and Devon so far. “They don’t ever engage that way. The kindness of that embrace is something that is absent, and when it happens, it’s a huge changing moment because it’s also so intense … It tells you that this is not the first time Devon’s had to be the only person there.”

Nicole Kassell Didn’t Know About Sirens’ Bookending Scenes

“That’s The Highest Compliment”

Although Nicole Kassell didn’t direct the final episodes of Sirens, she was responsible for starting the series on a note also worth ending on. The opening of the show sees Julianne Moore’s Kiki standing on a cliff, and its closing ends with Simone looking over the same cliff, having usurped Kiki’s position to a degree. “That definitely came from the script,” Kassell said, at least in terms of needing to find a good cliffisde location. “The main way we chose our location was [that] we needed a house on a cliff’s edge with a huge staircase.”

Kiki looking out over the water may have been written, but the exact framing of the shot was not, and Kassell didn’t know her shot was going to referenced at the show’s closing. “When I saw Greg and Lila [Neugebauer’s] episode five do the exact same shot… Greg and I didn’t talk about that. To me, that’s the highest compliment: when a director takes what you’ve set up and delivers. But I think the theme of the whole show is, ‘Who is the siren?’ and, obviously, Simone’s replaced Michaela. To visually repeat that was beautiful.” 

Will Sirens Have A Season 2?

“What’s Going To Happen In Buffalo?”

Given Sirens’ popularity on Netflix, it wouldnt be surprising to see a second season greenlit, even though that wasn’t the intention when making it. “My brain is so not there. It never crossed my mind,” Kassell said when asked if there’s anything she’d like to see in a second season. She continued to say, “People started saying that right away, [and] I just didn’t see that coming.”

“It does seem like we finished the story,” Middleton added, “but, also, some people think we could tell the same story again differently in season 2. I don’t think I ever thought I’d hear that either. I thought, ‘What’s going to happen back in Buffalo?’ I can’t see that being asked after seeing the show. But, obviously, people are entranced, and there’s something about it which they want to explore more.”

In Kassell’s mind, “I think it’s the love of the characters. They really fell in love with the characters and the cast.” But, ultimately, regarding a Sirens season 2, Kassell said “I trust Molly implicitly. She’s had these characters in her head for 15 years already. So, if she finds a season two, I can’t wait, but it’s been zero percentage of our conversation.”  Sirens is out now on Netflix.