ComingSoon editor-in-chief Tyler Treese spoke with Fuze director David Mackenzie and star Gugu Mbatha-Raw about the unique new heist movie. The pair discussed the film’s blend of genre and Mbatha-Raw’s character, plus Mackenzie gave a status update on the Hell or High Water TV show. Also starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Theo James, and Sam Worthington, Fuze is out in theaters starting April 24.
“Set in contemporary London,Fuzeunfolds after an unexploded World War II bomb is unearthed at a busy construction site, forcing a massive citywide evacuation. Amid the escalating tension and chaos, a daring criminal operation is set in motion—one that uses the evacuation as cover for a meticulously planned heist. As authorities race against time to contain the crisis, alliances blur, and moral boundaries are crossed, the film deftly propels audiences through a series of calculated twists delivering a wildly entertaining ride,” says the official synopsis.
Tyler Treese: David, congrats on Fuze. I also loved Relay last year. I thought it was so inventive, and your work is often genre-bending. I love that you could have done a whole movie on just the bomb situation or a heist, and instead, we get this really unique blend. What about this project and this mix of genres really appealed to you?
David Mackenzie: It was an original idea of mine, and it was just basically a simple idea of trying, you know, I love tension in movies and seeing what would happen if you mashed up two high-tension genres and stuck ’em together. So, that was the kind of concept I mean, it doesn’t happen so often in the United States. In fact, it doesn’t happen really at all in the United States, but in London and you know, other parts of Britain and other parts of Europe, people discover bombs on building sites almost every six months. So, this sort of protocol that the police have that Gugu’s character went through and that the Army guys go through, it’s something that’s well practiced, well rehearsed.
It’s probably not her first rodeo in this scenario. So there’s something really interesting about that for me. Trying to take that real situation and then inserting this other narrative in there and playing this game of almost pure cinema, kind of like high tension, and kinetic movement playing that very sort of short and sharp kind of version of the film, you know? That was good fun and part of the concept of it.
Gugu, your role takes place in a command center, and I feel like those types of roles are unexpectedly difficult because you’re spending so much time doing phone calls and exposition. That can be tricky and make viewers tune out, but you managed to thread that needle. So how did you approach this role?
Gugu Mbatha-Raw: Thank you. Well, you know, I was really fortunate to be able to do some research. We had an amazing police consultant on the film, and to be able to visit some of these real-life police control command centers and speak with high-ranking female police officers in and around London. And that really helped sort of ground it for me.
I think David’s process of focusing on authenticity and really keeping it grounded and gritty, and the realism of that was really helpful. I think in some ways, when you are in these control rooms, you are sort of seemingly at a distance from the action. But I think for me, it was really important just to hang on to, you know, her sense of integrity. But also, bringing almost like the audience’s eyes on the weight of the stakes and the humanity and compassion that she still has to have, even though she’s got a really important job to do, holding on to really what the worst possible consequences could be. Just grounding that in the human element.
David Mackenzie: But it’s interesting. I think that comes through, but there’s a bit of exposition that has to come in there, and I think the guys and Gugu’s relationship with the sergeant […] they made it so organic that it doesn’t feel like exposition. Do you know what I mean? That’s a challenge. You just came alive in a really great way. So you are being fed information, but it doesn’t feel like you’re being fed information. That’s the aspiration anyway.
David, this year is Hell or High Water’s 10th anniversary? I know a few years back, there was a talk of a TV show in the works at Fox. Do we know if that’s still on?
David Mackenzie: I haven’t had a conversation about that for quite some time, so I dunno whether it’s dormant or what the situation is on that one, to be honest. So yeah, I mean, it’s interesting. You know, I’m very fond of that film and the experience I had of making it, and you know, I have mixed feelings about messing with the legacy of that in some way. But you know, it’s mixed feelings.
Thanks to Gugu Mbatha-Raw and David Mackenzie for taking the time to talk about Fuze.
