Willem Dafoe is one of our most prolific actors. The Spider-Man star has taken on big superhero franchises, worked with visionary directors like Robert Eggers in films like The Lighthouse, and been nominated for multiple Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor for his work as Sergeant Elias in the 1986 film Platoon. Now, he’s working with director and writer Miguel Ángel Jiménez on his new film, The Birthday Party, which is in theaters and on demand and digital on August 14. To celebrate the film’s release, Collider is thrilled to bring you an exclusive look at a scene between Dafoe and Vic Carmen Sonne.
The Birthday Party is described as follows: “The story is set in the late 1970s somewhere in the Mediterranean, where Marcos Timoleon, an Aristotle Onassis-like tycoon, is throwing a lavish, extravagant birthday party for Sofia, his daughter and sole heiress, on his exclusive private island. The party is a perfect excuse for various people in his life to approach him with their own agendas. But Marcos, who is used to ruthlessly controlling everything and everyone around him at whatever cost, is also secretly plotting a big decision on his daughter’s behalf. Sofia, however, has come to share some important news of her own. As guests start pouring in and night falls, the party grows rowdier and more decadent, while the inevitable clash between Marcos and Sofia reaches a heartbreaking climax.”
Written by Jiménez along with Giorgos Karnavas and Nicos Panagiotopoulos, the film is based on a novel of the same name by Panos Karnezis. Our exclusive sneak peek features Sofia (Conne) and her father Marcus (Dafoe) talking about Sofia’s pregnancy and what Marcus wants her to do with the baby. He loudly states that he will not die without his house in order, and the brief scene shows the tycoon controlling his family the best he can. The film also stars Joe Cole, Emma Suárez, and Carlos Cuevas.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Willem Dafoe Is a Master Chameleon
Dafoe has constantly reinvented himself as a performer. Whether it be in Yorgos Lanthimos‘ Poor Things or movies like Mary Harron‘s take on American Psycho, you never really know what kind of Dafoe performance you’re going to get. From the scene we have for The Birthday Party, this does seem like one of the more terrifying Dafoe performances because he’s a man who wants control of the women in his life, and what’s more frightening than that?
You can see The Birthday Party in theaters, on demand, and on digital on August 14. Stay tuned at Collider for more.
![Willem Dafoe’s Twisted New Mystery Movie Officially Releases This Week [Exclusive]](https://i3.wp.com/static0.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/copy-of-collider-template-26.jpg?w=1600&h=900&fit=crop&w=780&resize=780,470&ssl=1 "Willem Dafoe’s Twisted New Mystery Movie Officially Releases This Week [Exclusive]")
