Belfast is the backdrop for the single-shot thriller Nightride, with Moe Dunford behind the wheel and a 'one last job' storyline in the tank.
He plays Budge, a want-away dealer whose final bit of business involves him getting the collateral - the first of many nods to the work of Michael Mann - to start his own body shop.
Hitting the road, the supremely confident Budge has everything in place as he phones associate after associate - until it all falls apart.
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It's a fast and fun movie; director Stephen Fingleton (The Survivalist), writer Ben Conway and charisma-galore leading man Dunford keeping you hooked on Budge's big score from the off.
Below, the Waterford actor tells us about all the ways in which Nightride revved his engine.
Harry Guerin: Great job on Nightride - the acting and the driving!
Moe Dunford: I appreciate that. I don't know which one I appreciate more - probably the driving! If that didn't go well, we wouldn't have had a movie!
Was the driving the hardest thing about Nightride or was it all the sitting in a single-shot movie?
I think the hardest thing was keeping the energy [going] and getting the energy right and appropriate to what the stakes were. If you fail one night, you try again. You might fail again the next night, try again. That notion [in the movie] of 'Time is luck' - when you have maybe three nights to get it in one. Sometimes the little accidents that would happen off-camera would make the film - and make it better.
You said yes to Nightride straight away.
I couldn't say no! The character was written as around 25-years-old and I said, 'Here, will you put a few wrinkles on him and a bit of mileage?' It was then when I said yes that they said it was a one-take [movie] and it was too late to go back then! I'd always wanted to work with Stephen Fingleton [director] since seeing The Survivalist.
Nightride comes hot on the heels of the great one-take movie Boiling Point. Have you seen it?
I have indeed, it's amazing. I'm in awe of [Boiling Point star] Stephen Graham and one-take movies and how they're done and the pressure one is under to get there to the end and tell the story. It's a unique way of filmmaking these days for what you can achieve. It was a pleasure to be involved with this team to get it done.
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As with Boiling Point, Nightride works because people forget about the whole one-take element and become completely invested in the story.
That's what was great about Ben Conway's script. You have many interesting characters, great actors delivering off-screen performances and on-screen performances; Belfast playing a role as a location, as a character; Budge and myself trying to get a handle on the technicalities and keep the character real and the stakes up. His plight to get out of the job - one last job - I really enjoyed, the references to Michael Mann that are scattered through Ben's script. Sometimes less can be more and let the great writing tell the story.
From that 'Time is luck' Miami Vice line to the mentions of 'collateral', there are numerous nods to the work of director Michael Mann in Nightride. Did his films loom large in your movie education?
Very much so. I'd been a fan of Collateral and Heat, but it was only then I discovered The Keep and Thief - the magic of such an assured filmmaker in his first feature with Thief. Everybody can get behind a character who just wants to do one more night and then he's out. I enjoyed that aspect of Nightride immensely. We want people to be on the edge of their seat and be with Budge on this.
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I think they will.
It was an adventure and it was an opportunity to do something we'd never done. The crew gave everything. It's me in front of the camera but an amazing team picking up that camera, following me in. It was like a dance, almost theatrical in how we worked as a team. How it all came together during the pandemic - it wasn't like a normal filmmaking experience. They'd normally put me on a low-loader and I wouldn't be driving, but Stephen Fingleton, the director, always thought it would add to the realism if Budge was doing his own driving. Now, I wasn't fully prepared for operating the CD system and that modern technology, but we made ends meet on the budget that we had!
We always hear there's a lot of hanging around on film sets, but with Nightride being a one-shot movie it was a really concentrated burst of focus and energy. At the end of a night, did you feel more tired or less tired?
I think more tired because it was a lot of focus. At the same time, you didn't have any spare time - when you're on, you're on. You start filming at half nine at night, you finish at midnight. Each night you wish the cast and crew have a good run - 'I'll see you at the other side' - and that was exciting and I got adrenalin off of that. It demanded a lot of focus off everyone. It was an intense week, that's the only way I can put it to you.
You're in the nice - and unusual - position of having both your new films on Netflix at the moment, the other being Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
During a crazy time in life [with the pandemic] I got an opportunity to work on my first American role. I'll be honest, I really enjoyed it. I had fun. Olwen Fouéré was over there as well representing the Irish and it was fun to be with this big American movie, part of a franchise. My brother introduced me to the original when I was 16 and it was just a bit of a godsend the way things have come. I know what it's like being out of work, I really do, and the irony of [Texas Chainsaw Massacre villain] Leatherface getting me out for a couple of months... The producer of Texas Chainsaw, John Silk, ended up becoming a producer on Nightride.
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You're also part of the new RTÉ comedy-drama series The Dry.
I was lucky; I got to work with [Rosie director] Paddy Breathnach for a second time on a completely different project. Just working on a story about addiction and the humour in Ireland and our relationship with alcohol, working with our lead, Róisín Gallagher - she's amazing. I think a lot of people are going to take notice. It's a really wonderful script.
Lastly, what did you learn about yourself making Nightride?
It was a challenge for me - the fear. 'Can you do this? Can you do it on any given night?' As time went on, that whole line of 'Time is luck' - we were up against it. I'm so grateful for the crew that we had to tell this story, that it all came together in a pandemic. A great team, a wonderful team. It instilled a lot of pride in me - we're as good as it gets when it comes to crews here.
Nightride and Texas Chainsaw Massacre are on Netflix now. The Dry will be coming to RTÉ One soon.
