Karyn Kusama broke out in 1999 with her written-and-directed debut feature film “Girlfight,” which won the Grand Jury Prize and Director’s Prize at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival, as well as the prestigious Prix de la Jeunesse (Award of Youth) at the Cannes Film Festival. She recently directed “The Invitation,”  which premiered at SXSW in 2015 and won the Grand Prize at the Sitges International Film Festival. Her previous directorial credits include films such as “Aeon Flux” and “Jennifer’s Body,” and television shows like “Halt and Catch Fire,” “The Man in the High Castle,” and “Billions.”

“Destroyer” will begin screening at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival on September 10.

W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.

KK: “Destroyer” is an LA-based crime thriller that investigates the life of Erin Bell, a police detective in a spiritual spiral. When the leader of a criminal gang — among whom Erin was embedded as an undercover officer 17 years before — resurfaces in present-day Los Angeles, Erin is forced to confront the tragic mistakes of her past.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

KK: I’ve been drawn to stories about moral accountability, and the story of Erin elicited extreme and thorny emotions from me. She’s a difficult person who has trouble being honest with herself, and though she sometimes behaves badly, there is also something deeply sympathetic about her. Her journey toward honesty and self-reflection felt both deeply painful and also satisfyingly cathartic to me.

As a culture we’re facing a spiritual and moral reckoning with our own history, and the decisions of our past must be acknowledged and addressed in order to move forward.

Erin pays a very steep price for her own personal redemption, but I find her story to be a microcosm of the larger moment we’re living in.

W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?

KK: My hope is that the film might encourage viewers to think about the depth of a single life, whether it’s someone they know and love, or the life of a total stranger. My hope is that we might consider the secrets, sorrows, joys, and mistakes that build an individual. We are all bound together by our best and worst selves, and for me, experiencing the odyssey of Erin’s shame and regret puts me in touch with my own shame and regret, and gets me closer to seeing myself more clearly.

I’d like for people to walk out of the theater wanting to know themselves better — and to be more curious about the person next to them.

W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?

KK: The film is a crime epic across many locations in and around LA. I wanted the film to depict a gritty, authentic side of the city that we don’t always see in our entertainment, which meant finding locations that were sometimes off the beaten path.

On a purely practical level, location shooting can be a huge challenge when you’re also working with very limited time and resources. While it’s always a thrill to shoot in real places, there’s also an unpredictability and a lack of control that I have to surrender to, which challenges my desire for order. Probably most of the challenge in film directing in general comes from the desire to control what can’t be controlled and to let go of preconceived notions about the thing I’m making.

W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.

KK: We were very fortunate to get to work with an amazing company called 30West, who fully financed the film. They have been great partners and I love everyone involved with their company.

W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?

KK: Storytelling is what makes us human, and there are so many ways to communicate a story. I’ve always been drawn to disparate elements in art — the perfect pop song, the arresting arrangement of people in space, a well-delivered speech, the poetic attention to a single detail — and making films allows me to explore all of these interests and make them part of a larger canvas.

W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?

KK: I think that the best and worst advice for me has been the same piece of advice actually, which is essentially the idea of “write what you know.”

On the one hand, it can be absolutely crucial to for me explore characters and stories that I feel a personal connection to and a sense of authentic knowledge about.

On the other hand, it’s also really important to explore worlds and characters that are totally different from me and my experiences. It’s a good exercise to jump into a void and try something completely new. It’s important for me to cultivate a curiosity about the larger world around me, which may mean I need to slow down, do my research, and immerse myself in new stories and unfamiliar histories.

W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?

KK: Honestly, I think it’s important to keep doing the work you’re trying to do until it doesn’t give anything back to you. I genuinely love the whole process of making movies — the solitude and quiet that comes with absorbing a story and formulating its rhythms in prep, the intense collaboration with multiple creative partners through shooting, the rigorous and mindful attention that comes with the editing process. But after all that, my movie still may not work or be received the way I want it to be received.

Controlling the outcome of a film is truly impossible, so the process itself is the only component I can depend on to bring me joy or wisdom. I always say if the process — regardless of the outcome — isn’t enjoyable, then it’s time to move on.

W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.

KK: There are too many to choose from! But a film I always return to is “Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles” by Chantal Akerman. It’s a 201-minute epic of a single mother caring for her home and her teenage son in Brussels while quietly turning tricks to make ends meet. The filmmaking is sophisticated, bold, and perversely entertaining, while also possessing a profound confidence from it’s 25-year-old creator. Akerman was a genius who made expressive work across many genres until her death until 2015.

W&H: Hollywood and the global film industry are in the midst of undergoing a major transformation. What differences have you noticed since the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements launched?

KK: I think there’s a larger awareness around the practical challenges that women face in the film business: the explicit and implicit barriers, the difficulty in building and maintaining careers, the sense of doors closing far too early for too many women.

It does seem like more and more production entities are acknowledging that they have to start playing a part in implementing the big changes. Even more importantly, it feels like we’re starting to reckon with how damaging it is to diminish the voices and experiences of half our population in the culture. I hope that with more opportunities and visibility we start to see the vastness of all of these female sensibilities within storytelling.