“I was really fascinated, maybe even enamored, with the idea of tackling really complicated subject matter, but in a way that was almost like absurdist theater, which would allow us to be able to laugh and still be entertained by it which can kind of be therapeutic for us in a sense,” he said in a recent interview.

A Lot of Nothing follows the story of James (Y’lan Noel, The First Purge) and Vanessa (Cleopatra Coleman, The Last Man on Earth) a successful married couple who learn that their next-door neighbor, Brian (Justin Hartley, This is Us) murdered an unarmed motorist. After learning of the devastating news, the two decide on how they want to take action into their own hands.

The cast also features Lex Scott Davis and Shamier Anderson The screenplay — co-written by Sarah Kelly Kaplan — turned feature film also brought on board David Oyelowo as one of its executive producers.

While there were no limitations on his vision for how the story would unfold, A Lot of Nothing was placed on pause as the filming started when the COVID-19 pandemic began. What initially started as 15 months of not knowing if his dream project would see the light of day eventually turned into a finished directorial debut that will be premiering at SXSW in the Narrative Feature Competition.

Having its world premiere at SXSW 2022, McRae hopes that his story will serve as a conversation starter that connects his viewers among themselves, as well as with the film’s complex characters.

a lot of nothing

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