Echo Chamber - 316 (The Bystanders)

Echo Chamber & Echoes From The Void! Podcasts

We have a 'Special Edition' of @EchoChamberFP https://www.instagram.com/echochamberfp/ for you today, people!!!

It's a bit of a revisit, because we first looked at this film during Sci-Fi London 2023, but looking back at that review: https://youtu.be/Yh1aM4iPxsY I didn't really do things justice. So thanks to the great Matt Hulse, we were able to not just take another look at the feature, BUT, sit down with the creative mind (one of them) behind the project and really get into the mechanics of the creation, production, casting, all that good stuff. We also touched upon A.I, creative techniques, and the perception of material. It was a really fun time, which could have been a lot longer, you won't want to miss it!!! Watch the conversation: HERE! https://youtu.be/dgix9eiMoBM

'The Bystanders' is the feature directorial debut from Gabriel Foster Prior, which he co-wrote with Jack Hughes. Peter Weir (Scott Haran) – a former child genius at chess who is now an inconspicuous office drone – is recruited precisely for his anonymity to become a Bystander, a kind of empowered guardian angel tasked with watching over, and invisibly helping, an individual subject.

Peter is trained by jaded Bystander Frank (Seann Walsh), who out of boredom proposes that they swap subjects, so that Frank now has ‘middle-class girl from Kent’ Sarah (Georgia Mabel Clarke), and Peter has feckless loser Luke (Andi Jashy), whom Peter hopes to transform into a winner so that Peter himself can win the award for Bystander of the Year, and make up for losing a chess contest decades earlier.

Hilarious rivalry ensues, as misanthropic Frank, who can only see the world through ‘Frank-tinted glasses’, sets about, purely for the lulz, undermining Luke’s – and Peter’s – newfound success.

Today we have:

The Bystanders

Watch Review: Here. https://youtu.be/yKy_lAy63N0

Austin Film Festival: 27th October 2022

Boston Sci Fi Film Festival: 15th February 2023

Fantaspoa International Fantastic Film Festival: 19th April 2023

Sci-Fi London: 6th June 2023

Portland EcoFilm Festival: 29th June 2023

Theatrical Release Date: 16th October 2023

Digital Release Date: 12th May 2024

Director: Gabriel Foster Prior

Cast: Scott Haran, Seann Walsh, Emily Wyatt, Lauren Douglin, Andi Jashy, Georgia Mabel Clarke, Nikolaos Brahimllari, Aimée Hills, Julia Varvara, Kurt Deed, Tom Clegg, Adam Morse, Nick Helm, Marek Larwood, Stefan Boehm, Lucy Pinder, Frank Harper, David Schaal, Jake Lambert, Emily Milburn, Margarita San Luis

Credit: Waggon & Horses Productions, Screenbound Entertainment

Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Running Time: 97 min

Cert: 15

Trailer: Here. https://vimeo.com/869499408

Watch via YouTube: Here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtLIiMcSxkk

Watch via Apple TV+: Here. https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/the-bystanders/umc.cmc.2xhifzyfbdbd8zc8j62j750kj?action=play

Watch via Google Play: Here. https://play.google.com/store/movies/details?id=EjXPHZ3m_pk.P

Instagram: @thebystandersfilm https://www.instagram.com/thebystandersfilm/

Website: Here. https://www.bystandersfilm.com/

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*(Music)

'Strictly Business (Instrumental)' by EPMD - 2020

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