Fantasia 2017: ‘Bushwick’ Preview

Hot off their classroom-zombie opus Cooties, directors Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott conceived Bushwick and turned scripting duties over to a couple of New York indie-filmmaking fixtures: Nick Damici (Stake Land) and Graham Reznick. Their combined forces resulted in a thriller that almost never stops moving, with Brittany Snow ably conveying Lucy’s discovery of her survival instinct and Dave Bautista diverges from his iconic wisecracking Drax to a more taciturn, surprisingly affecting but still kick-ass hero.

A trip to Grandma’s place has never been as dangerous as it turns out to be for Lucy (Brittany Snow), who’s bringing her new boyfriend to meet the family in her old neighbourhood of Bushwick, Brooklyn. The couple is suddenly, violently separated as helicopter-borne, machine-gun-wielding attackers overrun the streets, shooting anyone they see. Lucy’s life is saved by Stupe (Dave Bautista), a former soldier who helps her attempt to find safety – but it quickly becomes clear that the whole borough has gone to hell, and there may be nowhere to hide from the ruthless forces that have inexplicably turned it into a war zone. Hanging over it all is Lucy’s early question: Who would invade Bushwick?

Bushwick has its Canadian Premiere at Fantasia on July 30th at 6.30pm. The film comes to UK cinemas on August 25th, with a DVD/Blu/VOD release following on August 28th.