Esther Sokolow, the editor responsible for half of the episodes of the upcoming HBO Max series It: Welcome to Derry, revealed her meticulous craft for establishing tension. Sokolow explains how the series portrays the trauma of the new generation of characters. When it comes to Lilly Bainbridge, played by Clara Stack, the creative team deliberately used sound design and narrative misdirection to keep audiences on edge. All while building profound empathy for the character.
Defining Lilly in ‘It: Welcome to Derry’
In a recent interview, Sokolow talks about one of the main characters, Lilly, and how her introduction is a chance for the audience to “really get to meet who she is.” Lilly is deeply traumatized and sensitive, and the sound design used in the scene reflects her inner state.
Lilly is one of our main characters. This is a chance for you to really get to meet who she is, how she feels about her place in the world, and how the world views her place in it. So this is somebody who is deeply traumatized and is incredibly sensitive.
And, as we learn, she has been away from school for a little bit at Juniper Hill, recovering from her trauma. So playing with those sonic devices was really fun. It should feel claustrophobic, and we wanted the audience to feel like Lilly and empathize with her, that this is really worrisome.
– Esther Sokolow (Editor)
The art of subversion and why it works with Lilly’s Character
A key editorial strategy was to subvert expectations by building massive tension that is then released with something anticlimactic. And thus preventing the audience from anticipating the show’s true scares. She detailed this technique across two key scenes, The Hallway Prank and The Drain Scene.
The drain scene with Lilly is a clear homage to the iconic moment with Beverly Marsh from the It movie, where she is drenched in blood flowing from the sink drain. The horror is visceral and overwhelming, symbolizing her abuse and the town’s failure to see it. It’s an extreme physical manifestation of fear and trauma.
You want to subvert expectations. The drain is iconic. You gotta have a drain scene. You want to hear voices coming through the drain, but you also don’t want [to overdo it] – Lilly has to be scared, but she has to believe that that’s Matty’s voice in the tub.
– Esther Sokolow (Editor)
The scene focuses on tension and psychological unease. The sight of fingers creeping through the drain is a slower, more intimate invasion. It’s a creeping, personal violation rather than a horrific shock. Showing the physical barrier between realities breached creates unease, pulling you into a state of anticipation and dread rather than shock and gore.
[She has to] have enough curiosity and also guilt to feel like that is something that’s worth leaning into and exploring. You want it to be this lean forward moment of not so scary that you’re like, “uh-oh, gotta get out of here”.
– Esther Sokolow (Editor)
You can now stream the first two episodes of It: Welcome to Derry on HBO Max. Subsequent episodes of the eight-episode season will continue to air Sundays on HBO and HBO Max. All leading up to the season finale on Sunday, December 14. The series stars Jovan Adepo, Taylour Paige, Chris Chalk, James Remar, Stephen Rider, Blake Cameron James, Arian S. Cartaya, Amanda Christine, Matilda Lawler, Clara Stack, Madeleine Stowe, Rudy Mancuso, and Bill Skarsgård.
