Jonathan & Josh Baker are Australian born, Los Angeles based directors. While Kin marks their feature-directing debut, the brothers are established commercial directors, and are part of an acclaimed roster of directors at David Fincher‘s production company, RESET. The Bakers have made a name for themselves telling fanciful stories with a grounded and honest flair. Their naturalistic imagery embraces the bizarre and creates a detailed world that’s often both beautiful and imaginative.
The duo craft their first narrative feature, Kin, based on their 2014 sci-fi short, “Bag Man” (check it out here). Throughout film, they keep the tension high, and, in a word, it is pulse-pounding. Their narrative is expertly paced such that each frame feels like a further descent into the gritty narrative quicksand. Moreover, what feels like a Sundance short later takes a real drastic turn into some very cool sci-fi territory that you just don’t see coming. Kin feels 100% original, and the Bakers do a fantastic job of steering the film away from anything borrowed or derivative.
Once every few years, a film comes along that comes out of nowhere and thoroughly surprises us. In 2011, it was Drive, and this actually hits all the boxes Refn’s film did but with a brilliant sci-fi twist. The film is very character driven, and in the Q&A we hosted for the film, Jonathan says, “where they go glossy, we go gritty.” They don’t let the sci-fi elements get too big for their boots.
We were thrilled and honored to host the brothers’ insightful Q&A for Kin, and in this interview, we recapped many of the high points from that. Only this is spoiler-free. We’ll tell you one thing: you’re gonna love Kin. Enjoy our interview, and make plans to see Kin on 8/31.
Directed by Jonathan & Josh Baker, the film stars Jack Reynor, Zoë Kravitz, with Dennis Quaid, James Franco, and introducing Myles Truitt. Distributed by Lionsgate, KIN will be released in theaters on August 31, 2018.
KIN, a pulse-pounding crime thriller with a sci-fi twist, is the story of an unexpected hero destined for greatness. Chased by a vengeful criminal (James Franco), the feds and a gang of otherworldly soldiers, a recently released ex-con (Jack Reynor) and his adopted teenage brother (Myles Truitt) are forced to go on the run with a weapon of mysterious origin as their only protection.
