Michael Polish is back in the director’s chair for Alarum. The 54-year-old filmmaker helms this tale of a pair of spy operatives that go rogue (Scott Eastwood, Willa Fitzgerald) in order to elope. Their attempt at a life together outside the world of espionage is turned upside down when numerous intelligence agencies raid their cabin in search of a stolen hard drive.

Alarum represents the latest action endeavor in Polish’s catalog. He is best known for fronting тιтles like Force of Nature and 90 Minutes in Heaven, often in collaboration with his brother, Mark. Together, the Polish brothers have done projects like The Astronaut Farmer and The Smell of Success together, with Michael often directing and co-writing while Mark co-writes and acts.

In celebration of Alarum hitting theaters and digital, ScreenRant spoke with Polish to discuss how he landed on this project, what it was like to direct Sylvester Stallone after knowing him for years, the limitations Alarum faced by being a largely one-setting production, whether a sequel is in the cards, and the unique film he is actively working on with his brother.

What Brought Michael Polish To Alarum?

“[Stallone and I] have always wanted to work together…”

ScreenRant: A lot of your films that I’ve seen before, you were a writer as well as the director. You’re just directing this one. How did you get involved with Alarum?

Michael Polish: I read this screenplay and it was a genre that I barely go back and forth with. I did Force of Nature. This one felt like something I’ve never done, and I said there’s something in Stallone. I’ve known Stallone for about 20 years. We’ve always wanted to work together and we’ve had projects in the past that didn’t get to go. There’s a combination of Scott and Stallone that I felt was a good chemistry. So let’s try that.

Stallone is long known to be a leading man for action movies. This time, he’s playing a supporting character. Mike Coulter is known for leading Luke Cage as a hero on Netflix. This time, he’s an antagonist. Scott Eastwood has been a career ensemble man. This feels like one of the first times we get to see him as a top-billed star. How did it feel to have all those veterans at play, but getting to almost introduce them to a new section of the cast, if you will?

Michael Polish: I felt that it was exciting for them. Mike is a pretty big guy in stature, and he was just great for the role. So when we asked him to do it, I don’t think it was about the size of the role as much as he gets to do something different. And Stallone, there’s nothing better than him hanging out. He’s really the anchor. When Sly shows up, everybody knows it, so he doesn’t have to be the lead. He could be in there for five minutes. He commands that much attention.

Alarum’s Setting Was Crucial To The Film

“That was going to be its own character…”

I’d love to talk about the action of this film. Something I find so fascinating about movies like this is when we set it all really in one location, it feels like we don’t really venture too far out except for a couple scenes in the third act. How did that impact what action set pieces you guys were designing for this one?

Michael Polish: Well, when we got the lodge, I would say that was going to be its own character. It was so specific, that lodge, that we felt everything around it, in it and around it, because they were stuck there. That place had to be a really special place, and luckily we were able to find a place like that. And so all the action we built in the script inside of that place, and then everything like the explosions in the house, those are normal things that happen in action movies, but the house isn’t usually normal because we got to actually blow up a real home, and that was fun. That was a spectacle. This was about action movies. You’re also an audience member at the same time because you’re playing with a lot of toys that you don’t normally get to play with.

I feel like the concept that was introduced here has the groundwork to be explored further. Have you talked about even just vague concepts about what an Alarum 2 could look like?

Michael Polish: That could definitely happen. I know it’s been discussed and it would be fun to go somewhere new and try and figure that out. The trifecta between those three, those nuances would be fun. Stallone and Willa and Scott were a joy to be with. So it would be nice to explore that with them.

Polish’s Next Project Has A Wild Concept

Michael And Mark Are Co-Directing, But Not Working Together

Speaking of the future, in your immediate future, I am fascinated by what you have next on your docket, that being There, There with your brother. You guys are co-directing this, but you’re not working together. Can you explain to our audience what I mean by that?

Michael Polish: Okay, so to put it in a thimble, Mark directed a story about a twin and I directed a story about a twin. They both later in life find out that they’re twins, they know that they’re adopted, but obviously what you’re getting at is we don’t know what each other sH๏τ. We just know that we meet at a certain day at the Brooklyn Bridge and we meet as brothers, but I have no clue what he did and he has no clue what I did. So when we’re in the editing room, which we are, it’s just fascinating how many things are identical. That’s fascinating. We haven’t done a movie in a decade together, so we’ve lived separate lives for a while, but it just was inherent. For instance, my best friend in the movie’s name’s Emmett, and his name is Emmett. His character’s name’s Emmett. So that’s his stuff. It’s just popping off. It starts to fascinate me. The twin experience is real.

Wow. So for clarity on this, it’s not like you sH๏τ Act 1 and he sH๏τ Act 2. Are you cutting together scenes and interweaving it throughout?

Michael Polish: Yeah, they’re interweaving with each other. So they’ll be Mark’s A-story or B-story. And the likeness is where you sort of cut, where you know that he finds out, I find out, and what our reactions are, the oddness of it. In my film, my mother pᴀsses away and she’s able to, in the will, tell me you have somebody else. And in Mark’s movie, his dad pᴀsses away. So it’s a real funny mirror because I had no idea what he was doing.

Do we have a release date yet?

Michael Polish: No, there’s going to be a premiere. Probably Cannes or Telluride. It’ll probably be a fall release. It feels like a fall release.

About Alarum

Sylvester Stallone, Scott Eastwood, Mike Colter, and Willa Fitzgerald star in this explosive action-thriller about two married spies caught in the crosshairs of an international intelligence network that will stop at nothing to obtain a critical ᴀsset. Joe (Eastwood) and Lara (Fitzgerald) are agents living off the grid whose quiet retreat at a winter resort is blown to shreds when members of the old guard suspect the two may have joined an elite team of rogue spies, known as ALARUM.