NOBODY ETA I 5 MARCH 2021

It’s a Wick-ed game.

DIRECTOR Ilya Naishuller STARRING Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, RZA, Aleksey Serebryakov, Christopher Lloyd, Humberly González

“Our goal with Nobody was not to get crazy,” claims Ilya Naishuller, the Russian-born filmmaker behind 2015 action fest Hardcore Henry. If you’ve seen Nobody’s bonkers debut trailer, in which Breaking Bad’s Bob Odenkirk unleashes Wick-ian levels of ultraviolence on the Russian mafia, you – like TF – might be questioning that ‘not crazy’ part. “Well, in terms of the action, I think we reach a solid 8 out of 10,” Naishuller laughs. “And considering we have Bob in there doing crazy things… we could probably even go for 10.” That’s more like it.

Where Nobody does aim to dial down the crazy is with the “grown-up” story underpinning the bone-crunching action. Odenkirk plays Hutch Mansell – a suburban family man who’s humiliated when he fails to defend his family during a break-in. But Hutch is far from a cowardly nobody. He’s a man with a dormant set of particular skills, and fears what might result if he lets his simmering rage bubble to the surface.

“I think it’s very relatable,” Naishuller smiles. “I might not be a 50-year-old suburban dad, but I sometimes wish that I could stand up to bullies. I wish that I could be a much more macho version of myself. Apart from all the wish-fulfilment male fantasies, it has at its heart a struggle and an inner conflict. The bigger stakes are all happening in his mind.”

With John Wick’s Derek Kolstad on scripting duties and co-director David Leitch onboard as a producer, comparisons to the beloved Keanu-fronted action franchise will be inevitable. But Naishuller maintains that Nobody has plenty to offer beyond surface similarities. “If you look at any hitman movie, they’re always going to have elements that rhyme, but there are elements that give Nobody much more depth than you’d expect from an action film, which I’m very proud of.” Time to get crazy.