'Cabinet of Curiosities' Episode Was Inspired by Guillermo del Toro's Life

"Lot 36," the first episode of Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities, was inspired by the filmmaker's experience of losing precious family items, director Guillermo Navarro told Newsweek.

Helmed by Navarro, the episode follows Tim Blake Nelson's character, a right-wing white supremacist who makes a living from buying old storage units whether they become available because the original owner died or was evicted for not paying the rent.

Del Toro curated the horror anthology series for Netflix, with the first two episodes having been released on October 25 as part of the show's four-night event. "Lot 36" came first because the Pan's Labyrinth director had a personal connection to the story.

'Cabinet of Curiosities' Episode Was Inspired by Guillermo del Toro's Life

In "Lot 36," Nelson's character is drawn into a horrific nightmare when he awakens a demon that was hidden inside one of the storage units he purchased. But it is the less terrifying, more human side story of a Mexican woman (played by Elpidia Carrillo) pleading for her family photos and personal items that drew inspiration from del Toro's own life.

Navarro, who has frequently worked with del Toro in the past, said: "I started directing some years ago. Then when he was putting together this [...] because he wrote it, I knew something that [was] actually happened to him, where he had a storage room and he lost it and he had to retrieve it, and all those things.

"There was a little bit of that insight in this story and so there was a chance to communicate. He called me and then I jumped on it."

The director described himself and del Toro as being "close collaborators, friends, [and] compadres," adding that the Hellboy filmmaker was keen for Navarro to direct "Lot 36" because he would understand the story behind the horror.

"An important part of the story is [a character] played by a Mexican actress [Carrillo] and that was also important, to keep track of that storyline," Navarro said. "And that was a very natural thing for me to be on top of, so I guess it was a number of opportunities that [meant] he asked me to do this one."

Navarro also said he built "a great relationship" with Nelson while on set, saying that the actor was able to "really hit the chord of that character" and his ideologies. What Navarro particularly enjoyed was how Nelson and Carrillo worked together.

"I love that relationship where she says, 'No, I need those things, they are not yours they are mine. No, please they made a mistake and then sold it.' She's trying to recover her stuff but he doesn't care. The only thing that he gives her is a broken lock," Navarro said of the two characters' relationship onscreen.

"When he's running for his life, in the corridors and he finds a window and there she is, and she produces the lock [...] all that reverse psychology of you [should] think twice [about] what you do. It all works beautifully in that sense."

On Channelling 'Pan's Labyrinth' With Its Horror

As well as being a director, Navarro works as a cinematographer. He has worked with del Toro in this capacity for films like Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth, Pacific Rim and The Devil's Backbone, to name a few.

This, Navarro said, meant that he had a deep understanding of what del Toro wanted from the episode, and they agreed on several things such as how to approach horror using practical effects with the demonic creature moving in a similar way to the Pale Man in Pan's Labyrinth.

"In many of the films that we did together, we found that the combination of practical effects in prosthetic makeup with some touches of digital [is] actually the best combination. We did that in Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy, etc.," Navarro said of filming the demonic creature in the episode. "So, I was very comfortable with being used to work with prosthetic makeup and with actors that inhabit these prosthetic suits, if you want to call them that.

"I did a lot of the motions of [actor Lize Johnston] where I was filming the movements backwards in a slower frame rate, so there's a little bit of an uneasiness in how she moves. It's because I deliberately shot the shot backwards. So when she stands, when she's standing up or down, or she's walking, she will start walking backwards and we will use it in reverse. That adds an eeriness to the motion, into the awkwardness of our creature.

"And then, of course, the digital composite of all the tentacles that's the incredible VFX company, Herne Hill Media, that was like complete icing [on the cake] of the combination of the effect. They're so organic and so active. They really are up there and excited to do the thing."

Reflecting on the process of making the episode, Navarro added: "I was very comfortable. I was comfortable in my space.

"I had done a lot of work photographing that kind of procedure with prosthetics and the effects, and all those things, so I was not even intimidated. I knew exactly what I was doing. I was blocking the scenes carefully, knowing what things matter for those things, how to present them, how to hide them, how to reveal them, how to connect the dots, etc.

"I have walked those roads before so it was...I'm not going to say it was easy, but I was really comfortable that was gonna be able to deliver that."

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities premiered on Netflix with its first two episodes, "Graveyard Rats" and "Lot 36." It will air two episodes a day until Friday, October 28.