Our chat with Lionsgate’s “5lbs of Pressure” movie director Phil Allocco, about this powerful story about second chances, redemption, and revenge as we take a small look at life on the streets #5LbsOfPressure @Lionsgate
In this gripping action-thriller, Adam (Luke Evans), an ex-con back in his old neighborhood after serving a 16-year stretch for murder, walks a rocky path of forgiveness toward the son who grew up without him, while the bitter, volatile brother of the youth he killed looms in the background. Meanwhile, Mike (Rory Culkin), sick of doing the bidding of his drug-dealing uncle (Alex Pettyfer), is desperate to leave his sordid life behind. When Adam and Mike’s paths converge, inescapable destiny will give way to violence…and a final, fleeting shot at redemption.
Releasing March 8, 2024 – In Theaters, On Digital and On Demand
Criticólogos:
Was this based on personal experience or a group of persons that you put them all together? How did it come about?
Phil Allocco:
I wrote it a long time ago, and it was inspired not directly. I didn’t try to write somebody’s story, but this is the kind of world I kind of grew up in. This kind of inner-city world where people live between the cracks and there’s a lot of toxic masculinity, because you don’t, males in this world, they don’t own anything, you rent and you’re trying to live on the streets.
So, there’s a lot of, like, confrontation, physical confrontation, and there’s a lot of posturing. And there’s also this idea that, people need, you don’t trust the cops, you don’t trust this, you don’t trust any system. So, you need to take matters into your own hands. And it’s a very ignorant, way that and that’s how I grew up. I grew up like that and you’re unaware, but you feel this pressure, peer pressure, whatever, to act certain ways, and it’s a tough world.
I also knew people on both sides of these terrible things that people would end up doing. And I’ve always felt that it was an interesting thing to, where how where empathy comes in because things, I like the moral ambiguity of things are not so clear cut and just regular people in extraordinary or hard situations like that do things that on paper, none of us would agree with.
Right. But I’m not trying to say I wasn’t trying to say, well, everyone should have empathy for people who do bad things, but I feel like it’s important to understand what it means to be human. I think we’re all capable of amazing things, but we’re all capable of dark things too and to avoid looking at that is not being true to who we are. You have to look at your faults, as a society, as a people and I feel like having empathy and understanding that is important somehow.
Criticólogos:
Adam wants to, you know, get his life together, wants to spark conversation with his son, and wants to get to know his son, and a lot of people see this movie and see themselves in Adam If you went through this to the situation. but I want to know what your message is to them.
Phil Allocco:
It’s an interesting one. Is a writer. I’m not writing for message, right? I mean, there are things that I think are important, whatever. But I, I think what I find fascinating about Adam is it’s kind of like the road to hell is paved with good intentions. It seems so innocent. Here’s a guy who just wants to meet his son, but at the same time, he’s still being aggressive. He’s going into a neighborhood he shouldn’t. He’s still pushing the boundaries of his ex.
It seems all innocent, like, hey, I just want to see my somebody. looks at what he’s doing to Donna. You know, the mother of his child who she doesn’t want her child to know. His father’s a murderer, and he. And she’s trying to protect that world, and he’s not respecting her boundaries. So, in a sense, he is blinded by what he wants and what he thinks is good, but he’s also still. And I think that’s what’s interesting to me the characters are bouncing off each other, they’re creating an expected consequences to their actions.
I think and then what does it do to Eli? The younger brother of the man who was killed. What does he feel like when Adam comes back into that? And these are things that are not even in Adam’s mind because he’s so blinded by thinking, well, what could be wrong? I’m just. I’m innocent. I’m doing this, these things. So, I thought that is kind of interesting how we all affect each other. And even the small actions that we make that we think are not big can be big to someone else, you know?
Criticólogos:
I want to talk about Luke Evans and Rory. Great actors, I wonder did they just follow your lead, or did they bring something to the table that you said, yeah, we are going with that, How did what about working with the two of them?
Phil Allocco:
Well, I think every actor brings so much. I mean, they are, I’m not. I may have, right? It may be the director. It’s almost like in a sport, you’re maybe a coach on the sideline, but they’re playing the game, they’re making the plays and Luke created that character. We work together, and we talk together. Rory was amazing to work with. Rory and I had a lot of fun always thinking about things. What Mike would do. There’s a scene where I don’t want to go too much into when he’s running into the bodega, and we talked about maybe he can’t do what he’s going to do right away.
Maybe it’s like you’re about to jump in the pool, but the water’s cold and you’re like, oh, I got second thoughts, and we were always thinking of things that would give that reality to Mike, and Rory is just amazing. He naturally, brings so much empathy to a character that is, on paper, unlikable. That was one of the big challenges I had with Mike., I saw Rory in Lords of Chaos and that’s a very unlikable character as well.
But he makes you want to understand and go through that story. And I loved what he did with that. And I just think he’s so special. And it was an amazing experience for me to work with him. With everyone here.
Criticólogos:
I don’t want to spoil this, so let’s not enter into details. But I’m curious because the ending is unexpected. I wonder if that was the ending from the beginning, or did you have something else drawn up as you wrote this? How did that come about?
Phil Allocco:
That’s a great question. I’m in a lot of films. I purposely have an ending that I’m going towards. Or, you know, in this particular one I was writing it not knowing what was going to happen, and it was a new kind of experience when I was doing it. And I was like, I don’t know what’s going on. So, when I wrote the ending one day, I was just sitting when I wrote, it’s almost like I’m trying to watch the movie as I’m writing. And I was just like, I felt surprised, I felt like, oh, you know, I didn’t, you know, I was like, I can’t believe these guys did this or that person did that, you know? So, it was exciting for me.
I remember when I first started writing, I was like, uh, I don’t know, I can’t do it. And then I was like, yes, that’s good. The fact that I felt like, oh, I don’t know if I could, you know, go there made me excited. And, um, and that’s what you look for. I think as a filmmaker, you want something that you’re excited about that you want to watch that makes you go, yes, that that is exciting to me. That’s profound to me. That has meaning to me.
Trailer:
