Tom Nicoll's influencer thriller Salvation premieres in TIFF Discovery
An aspiring online life coach who tries to sell his own reinvention drives Scottish writer-director Tom Nicoll's debut feature Salvation, which world premieres in the Discovery section at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Nicoll discussed the film with Variety ahead of its Toronto bow. Discovery is TIFF's strand for emerging directors, focused on first and second features. This year's festival runs September 10-20.
Salvation follows Danny Carlton, a would-be internet coach whose plan to transform himself and then market that transformation pulls him in increasingly desperate directions. Nicoll describes it as a psychological and blackly comic thriller. No easy fix arrives.
Liam Harkins stars as Danny, with Kevin O'Loughlin as guru Marshall Allison. The wider cast includes Stephen McMillan, Kathleen McDermott and Conor McCarron. It is a tight ensemble piece built around young men looking for answers.
Much of the story plays out in Greenock, a post-industrial town on Scotland's west coast. TIFF programme notes call the film a sharp, empathetic portrait of young men adrift, according to TIFF, and a commentary on the seductive promise of online self-improvement culture. The festival also bills it as a story of hunger for purpose and flair for delusion in a small Scottish town.
Nicoll and Harkins have worked together before on the short Lighting Tests. Nicoll has also been named a Rising Star Scotland, a development award for emerging Scottish talent, as reported by Screen Daily. The feature is associated with Lane Films.
The road to Toronto ran through Cannes, where Salvation was selected for the BFI and British Council's Great 8 showcase for upcoming British films. MetFilm Sales has since boarded world sales, meaning it handles international rights to the film. Early listings place the film in both Discovery and Unhidden Gems presented by Redbreast.
What makes this stand out is the target. Male influencer culture is familiar ground for documentaries and headlines. Here it becomes the engine for fiction, set far from London or Los Angeles.
