We are very much looking forward to the release of The Informer, which hits Irish cinemas on Friday 30th of August, so ahead of its box office debut we're here to fill you in on everything you need to know about the crime thriller before you go to see it.
1. It has an all-star cast
The Informer stars Joel Kinnaman, who you'll know from the likes of Suicide Squad, Altered Carbon, House of Cards and The Killing.
Ana de Armas of Bladerunner 2049 fame plays Kinnaman's wife, while the support cast features two Academy Award nominees in Rosamund Pike and Clive Owen. The pair play FBI agents while Common features as NYPD officer 'Grens.'
2. Basil Iwanyk is the producer
"Who is Basil Iwanyk?" we hear you ask.
Iwanyk is the producer behind the John Wick series, The Town, Sicario, Wind River and The Expendables. He has become one of the most bankable producers in Hollywood and judging by his portfolio, The Informer is right up his alley.
The movie is written and directed by Andrea Di Stefano and will be his second feature film, following on from Escobar: Paradise Lost in 2014.
3. The plot is intense
There is a lot going on in this movie and poor Joel Kinnaman's character is stuck between a rock and a hard place. He plays Pete Koslow, an ex-convict who gets an early release by working as an informer for the FBI. However when a sting operation he's involved in ends in the death of an undercover NYPD officer, his world is turned completely upside down.
The mob boss - known as The General - he 'works' for orders him to take the blame for the murder and go back to prison. The FBI force him to go along with it so that they can take down The General's drug operation inside the jail, while Grens is on a mission to find out what really happened his NYPD colleague.
To top things off, the FBI field agent in charge of the operation (Clive Owen) seems more than prepared to cut Koslow loose and let him suffer the consequences.
4. The Swedish connection
Although set in the US and filmed in locations that including New York, Philadelphia and Gloucester in the UK, there is a definite Swedish theme to this movie. First of all, The Informer is based on an award winning Swedish novel called Three Seconds. The novel, written by Anders Roslund and Borge Hellström, won Swedish novel of the year in 2009.
Fittingly, Joel Kinnaman is actually Swedish American. The actor was born and raised in Stockholm to a Swedish mother and American father. Kinnaman made a name for himself as an actor in Sweden before hitting the big time in the States more recently.
Ahead of The Informer's release we've recorded a special preview podcast where we delve into the backstory of the movie and put ourselves in Koslow's shoes. You can listen and subscribe by searching 'The Rewind' on all good podcast apps or you can play the show below:
