The Important Onslaught Scene That Director Adam Wingard Nearly Ruined

This article contains minor spoilers for "Onslaught."

Adam Wingard has spent the last handful of years of his career making giant blockbusters. More specifically, a pair of "Godzilla" movies in Legendary's MonsterVerse. But the "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" director decided not to return for next year's sequel, "Godzilla x Kong: Supernova." Instead, he decided to get back into the realm of original filmmaking with A24's "Onslaught." It's very much a movie that puts Wingard back in "The Guest" mode, where he seems rather comfortable. So comfortable, in fact, that he nearly ruined an important scene in the movie.

The movie focuses on a rogue squad of genetically engineered super soldiers who break loose from a facility in the desert. A badass former Army sniper (Adria Arjona) must unleash hell at a nearby trailer park to protect her young daughter from the seemingly unstoppable killing machines.

I had the good fortune of seeing "Onslaught," which I also reviewed for /Film, at a screening attended by Wingard. During a post-screening Q&A, the director revealed that one of the opening shots of the movie, which sees Dan Stevens' Hans Kammler, licking the feet of his wife, Rebecca Hall's Hanna Kammler. It was too much for Wingard to handle. Here's what he had to say about it:

"The shot of Dan when he's licking Rebecca's feet, that take I actually ruined. We had to ADR the sounds of it because I'm actually laughing in the background."

Stevens is good at playing freaky lil' weirdos on screen, and he's collaborated with Wingard in the past on "The Guest" and "Godzilla x Kong." So they're used to one another. Even so, seeing him in old man makeup as a former Nazi licking the feet of Rebecca Hall was, understandably, worthy of a reaction.

The scene in question helps set the tone, to be certain. "Onslaught" is a violent movie, but a weird movie as well. It's Adam Wingard getting some stuff out of his system after spending years playing in a big sandbox that limited his creativity to some degree. Wingard admits there were hard parts about making his "Godzilla" movies. But this was his story to tell and he told it his way.

Clearly, he had a good time doing it. Not only was that key scene saved by some post-production magic, but that laughing wasn't for naught. Wingard went on to further explain that laughing during takes actually helps when it comes to getting performances out of his actors.

"There's different types of laughs you give as a director. And sometimes I find, even if the actors are ruining takes, it really encourages them to hear your response in the moment. So when they hear me laughing, a lot of times it kind of tells them that they're on the right track."

Simon Barrett, who Wingard worked with on his career-launching slasher "You're Next" as well as "The Guest," penned the screenplay for the movie alongside the director. The cast also includes Adria Arjona, Eric Wareheim, Reginald VelJohnson, Michael Biehn, Drew Starkey, and UFC fighter Alex Pereira.

"Onslaught" is in theaters now.