Aahana Swrup
In the crime thriller film ‘Bring Him to Me,’ the audience accompanies a pair of protagonists—The Driver and the Passenger—as they undertake a journey with an unpredictable destination at the end of the drive. After carrying out a robbery for a dangerous crime boss, the operation’s getaway driver finds himself in an unpleasant predicament once he learns that his rookie partner in crime, Jake, has invited their boss’ ire. As a result, he’s forced to accompany the unwitting young man on a trip to his own execution. However, as the duo faces several dangers and threats together, the Driver finds himself questioning his boss’ assessment of the other man’s immorality.
The film charts an intriguing tale that remains mainly concentrated between the Driver’s and Passenger’s narratives, compelling the viewers to relate to their experiences and situations. However, does the origin of these narratives possess any basis in reality?
Bring Him to Me: The Whirlwind Conception of the Crime-Noir
Although ‘Bring Him to Me’ operates within a crime-driven world, the film maintains a more significant central focus on the thematic resonance of the characters’ narratives. Therefore, at its core, Driver and Jake’s venture presents a suspenseful exploration of morality, questioning the nature of loyalty in the face of self-preservation. For the same reason, the crime-life backdrop retains relevance within the film. However, outside of any thematic authenticity, the depiction of criminality holds no connection to real life. Consequently, the film remains an original idea conceptualized by screenwriter Tom Evans under Luke Sparke’s direction.
The project—a debut for Evans as a screenwriter—reportedly employed a short route to arrive at its production. Sparke spoke about the process behind the genesis of ‘Bring Him to Me’ in a conversation with Deepest Dream, referring to it as an almost overnight affair. “Basically, I just talked to [Tom Evans] one day, and he said he was working on a crime movie. I said send me the script [and] I enjoyed it. When I did the deal with him, within two weeks, we had the film greenlit and into pre-production.”
The crime-noir genre of the project provided an appreciated distinction for Sparke, who has previously worked on sci-fi and action movies. Furthermore, the streamlined, self-contained nature of the narrative presented a thrilling challenge that promised great results. From there, different pieces, such as collaboration with lead Actor Barry Pepper and the actualization of Jake’s character, came together, paving the way for the final product. Nonetheless, even though criminal gangs make up the story’s foundation, no real-life instance regarding the same was equipped as inspiration during the film’s development process.
A New Addition to the Single Location Films
While the characters in ‘Bring Him to Me’ graze past a few locations in their trip—from gas stations to eerie clearing by the roadside—the film primarily remains confined within the singular location provided within Driver’s car. The creative decision to have the film take place inside the car in almost its entirety remains intrinsic to the plot, which relies on the Driver and Passenger forming a bond in a short period of time. Likewise, it also molds a unique connection between the audience and the characters that is required to contextualize the narrative stakes. Naturally, the same, paired with the film’s focus on a car ride—draws a parallel between the story and other similar works—recent or otherwise.
For instance, viewers may relate ‘Bring Him to Me’ with other titles such as the older films ‘Locke’ and ‘Penny Dreadful’ or the more recent projects, ‘Daddio’ and ‘Sympathy for the Devil.’ In an interview with Screen Rant, filmmaker Sparke spoke about the same, confirming that he avoided similar films during his project’s development. “To be honest, I hadn’t seen ‘Locke,’ I hadn’t seen the Nic Cage one [‘Sympathy for the Devil’],” said the filmmaker.
Sparke added, “[And] When people start telling you when you go into it, I don’t like to watch those. I don’t like to watch the films [like the ones] I’m working on because I want to make it my thing. So, the only real movie that we were going off was just [‘Casino’]. I watched the trailers, and that was about it. So, I knew of them, but I hadn’t seen them yet, so I wanted to make this my own thing.”
Read More: Bring Him to Me Ending, Explained: Did Jake Steal the Money?
