The stingy bomb in the heart of London sets the stage for “Foos,” a tense new British crime thriller by director David Mackenzie. Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, the film combines the urgency of a robbery film with the horrors of a misfire World War II bomb excavated at a bustling construction site.
Written by Ben Hopkins, this feature is written by Aaron Taylor Johnson, Theo James, Gugu Mbasa Law and Sam Worthington. Chaos unfolds across London’s streets as the military and police scream to evacuate the city from the clock.
For Mackenzie, credits that include “Hell or High Water” and “Outlaw King,” the best photos were nominated for, the concept came years ago.
“I wanted to mash up the tension of a robbery film with an unsolved bomb movie,” Mackenzie tells Variety at TIFF Studios. “In the UK, misfire World War II bombs are constantly being discovered somewhere. Evacuation is forced and often blown away on the spot. It felt like leaning in with “Foods” was a very realistic thing.
Mackenzie is still calling his most lean feature, over 90 minutes. “We want the audience to feel a sense of relief that it’s over.
Mubasa Law, who plays Chief Zuzana, says he was drawn to the realism and immediacy of the project.
“When I read the script, it felt so propulsive and almost played in real time,” she shares. “I had never played a police officer before and was excited to work on this basis and rough. I was able to meet with London-based police officers and observe command centres like my characters. It was a fascinating insight.”
Mbatha-Raw praises Mackenzie’s style. “His long take and constantly moving cameras feel so authentic and exhilarating. I was on the edge of my seat, watching with the audience for the first time.
Worthington, who reunited with Mackenzie after several collaborations, said his character X was not present in the early draft.
“I called David and said, ‘What can I do with this?” He told me that all roles were gone,” Worthington recalls. “But when I read it, I thought I could do something in Theo’s gangster and this henchman figure. I asked him to make something and David gave me that trust.
Worthington, best known for his role as Jake Sally in James Cameron’s “Avatar” franchise, added that Mackenzie’s confidence in his actors will bring him back. “He trusts me.
Alongside Taylor Johnson and James, the cast builds tensions in two opposing troops: bomb squads and robber gangs.
“They are both really strong actors and are deeply committed to what they’re doing,” Mackenzie says of Taylor Johnson and James. “Aaron brings a very realistic representation of the Army EOD team, while Theo delivers this visceral energy as part of the robber crew. It was great to work with both.”
Mackenzie called his “pure cinema entertainment” efforts “Foos,” but he teased a long-awaited project of passion for his work: adaptations of a generation of spaceship travel novels over 100 years.
“It’s incredibly complicated and at this point it’s a 190-page script,” he admits. “If it’s done properly, it could be a one of travel. It’s something I still want to find a home.”
For Mbatha-Raw, this role marked another opportunity to explore range. “I want to do two martial arts in the film. It’s really intimate and soulful. I’m always looking for characters with depth,” she says.
And for Worthington, there was “Avatar: Fire and Ashes” on the horizon, and “Foos” proved another opportunity to work with a trusted director. “It’s all about whether the film connects with the audience or not,” he said. “If that’s the case, I hope you have the opportunity to continue telling these stories.”
Worthington also provided the latest information on James Cameron’s vast “Avatar” sequel. He confirmed that Avatars 2 and 3 were shot together, and four of them were also filmed to accommodate the aging of the young cast. “There was one or two scenes where the kids had to be the same age, so we filmed it in 2018 or 2019,” he explains. He added that Cameron wrote Avatars 4 and 5 in full and teased that if the audience continues to accept the film, the saga will move forward in time. “We’re not rog enough to assume they’ll stay connected, but if that’s the case, we can continue to tell the story.”
Worthington also tackled Kevin Costner’s “Horizon” Saga’s uncertain future. He confirms that Costner mapped and wrote four films, and Worthington reads all of them, but the project’s continuation is now at Limbo. “It was Costner’s passion project, and he’s been working on it for 10 years,” Worthington says. “It all comes down to whether the audience connects or not. Passion is always there, but sometimes it’s just whether it’s the right time for people to accept it.”
