Movies often serve as direct reflections of the happenings in pop culture and daily life. The new narrative of the high school story has become that of Natural Selection, and suddenly we suddenly find ourselves longing for the feel-good films of the '80s that Anthony Michael Hall (The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles) once starred in, when life seemed slightly less complex. Directed by Chad L. Scheifele, the film tackles some of the more serious issues plaguing American society: gun control, bullying and mental health. Hall returns to high school as Mr. Stevenson, a former cop avoiding his troubled past, alongside Mason Dye as new kid Tyler Evans, and Katherine McNamara as the kind-hearted Paige Thomas.

Myspace caught up with Hall, Dye and McNamara to talk about the complexities of the film and the serious subject matter behind it.

With such serious subject matter being presented, what do you believe the film is ultimately about?

Anthony Michael Hall: Like any piece of art, it’s very subjective and really up to the person to draw whatever they can from it. Ultimately it’s supposed to be about redemption and support, and the relationship between the three main characters. What’s nice is that these characters go on an arch—the violence and the events toward the end are certainly not a footnote, but a build between characters as those elements unfold.

Mason Dye: It’s a movie about friendship, as crazy as that sounds. It’s about a kid that could be persuaded one way or another. He’s teetering between this dark path and overcoming that to become a better person who walks a good path.

Katherine McNamara: It’s about people and the fact that everybody has skeletons in their closet. Everybody has heartache that they have to go through and complications they have to deal with. It’s how you deal with all of that, and how you let it shape you and your relationships that really determine who you are as a person. Eventually, your survival is in this "natural selection" that we’re all a part of.

How do your own characters' hardships play into the film?

AMH: The character I play is sort of a compassionate witness with what he’s going through. His tale develops within the story as a conversation between Indrid (Ryan Munzert) and myself. You get the backstory in a way that’s more authentic and without giving exposition to the audience. I think it’s a nice choice.

MD: Tyler has had a rough life—his dad commits suicide when he’s 7-years-old, his mom is a druggie/alcoholic. On top of that, he and his mom move and settle down in this new city. It’s there he meets Indrid, who is this dark, tormented soul trying to pull Tyler in one direction. But then he meets Paige, and she’s trying to pull him down this good path. The movie echoes how Tyler has to cope with all of that.

KM: Paige grew up in that town, but as she gets older she’s realizing that there’s more to life and there may be something else out there for her. As she comes to this realization, there are certain aspects of her life that she has to let go of so that she can open herself up to new opportunity. It’s something that a lot of people go through when they grow up and as certain relationships become toxic. There are things that you have to let go of in order to open yourself up to something new, and that’s what Tyler represents for her.

What were some of your favorite elements about filming this movie?

AMH: The exploration of going somewhere new and working on a new project—you go to a different state and you collaborate with a bunch of people. There was a really cool group of young filmmakers who were either all artists from Philadelphia or the greater Pennsylvania area, and I like that they kept it sort of contained. Because Scheifele is from there, these were people who he grew up with. People from his family even helped produce the film.

MD: There usually aren’t roles like this for someone my age that tackle such controversial subjects, so it was something new and interesting. Although it’s heavy stuff, I’ve always been intrigued by the darker subjects. Obviously working with Anthony Michael Hall was one of my highlights. That was awesome. The whole cast and crew was so much fun to work with.

KM: What drew me to the character and to the project was the sense of realism, because there’s this grounded-ness and reality to all of these characters that I love. It was such a collaborative filming process between the director and the cast, everyone brought their own perspective to the project and their roles, which allowed it to take on another life and made it a lot of fun. We filmed in a small town and with a small cast, which created more of a familial feel to the entire thing.

What sort of challenges did you face in bringing the script to life?

AMH: I didn’t have any trouble to speak of, but the production team probably has stories. There are always challenges and many more struggles when you’re behind the scenes and putting everything together.

MD: Every part. I had a blast shooting the film, but the whole script is so disheartening and my character is going through so much that it became emotionally draining. In a good way, though. That scene when I walk in to find my mother drunk again and flipping through old photos was really difficult. But that last scene of the movie with Indrid was by far the most challenging.

KM: Every film presents its own challenges you learn and grow from. I love it when I read a script and think to myself “I don't know if I can pull that off” or “I don’t know if that will come through,” but on the day [of shooting], you pull it all together and make it happen one way or the other.

What do you hope the audience will take away from Natural Selection?

AMH: We didn’t go about the process of making this film to be preachy or soapbox-y, it was more about the relationship between the three leads. However, we’re on this treadmill, always keeping up with modern culture and what it controls, like media and consumer information. The perspective reflects the current situation in our country because—as we know—gun control is built into our Constitution, and it is a construct that we have to deal with as Americans. We’re trying to make a point about that, but it has to be relative. I don’t think it was Scheifele's intention to that intentionally speak on the issue, but the sad thing is that it still remains topical, because there are over 300,000,000 guns registered, so the gun issue is always at the forefront and, sadly, that makes it relevant.

MD: Throughout the movie, Indrid has all of these telltale behaviors that indicate something’s off, and people should’ve taken notice of that. Young people go through some serious crap, and we should have better awareness in order to alleviate situations before they become tragedies.

KM: The audience is universal, but there are middle and high school-aged kids who deal with this in their daily lives. Hopefully after seeing the characters go through this, it will create awareness on these topics and issues and in a really positive way.