Michael Haneke Reveals Connection Between Abandoned ‘Flashmob’ & ‘Happy End’

Prior to getting behind the camera on “Happy End,” the masterful Michael Haneke had been developing a film called “Flashmob.” The movie was said to be about a group of characters who connect through the internet and are brought together by the titular event at the end, and promised to explore the relationship between media and reality. Haneke was waiting for a specific actress for the movie, but eventually, the whole thing fell apart. However, the filmmaker did bring a story element from “Flashmob” to “Happy End.”

The director reveals to Little White Lies that he lifted a plot point he was going to use in the abandoned project, and brought it to his latest film. And it’s pretty intriguing stuff.

“There is one thread in the film that does come from ‘Flashmob,’ and that is about the girl who poisons her own mother. It’s based on a story I read a couple of years ago in the newspaper – a girl who did just that, tried to poison her mother over a long period of time and published it, wrote about it on the internet. It’s something that I wanted to put into a film for many years, but that was the only thread that I took from ‘Flashmob,’ ” Haneke said.

So, something to impress your cinephile nerd friends with, and it sounds like “Flashmob” would’ve been right up Haneke’s bone-chilling, dramatic alley.

Be sure to read the rest of the interview, where Haneke relates the harrowing story of the time he saved his Aunt from committing suicide.

“Happy End” opens on December 22nd. Just in time for Christmas.