Overview
- The film’s climactic “The Number of the Beast” performance by Ralph Fiennes is drawing cheers in theaters, with critics singling it out as a standout sequence.
- Director Nia DaCosta says the moment originated in Alex Garland’s script, and early rough-cut footage reassured her that the bold idea worked on screen.
- Choreographer Shelley Maxwell and designers Gareth Pugh and Carson McColl helped stage the practical spectacle, which featured a prebuilt ring of fire, pyrotechnics and rigorous safety measures.
- Across two nights, the team captured the number with a modified TRINITY rig dubbed “the Simone,” plus drone and crane coverage, complementing editing by Jake Roberts.
- A flame-suit insert was performed by Italian fire artist Otto Nicola Giacona of I Piromanti, discovered via Instagram, a flourish that drew some of the loudest audience reactions.