Scottish writer-director Tom Nicoll is unveling at Toronto his buzzy debut “Salvation.” It tracks an aspiring online life coach whose attempt to reinvent himself and then sell that transformation to others pulls him in increasingly desperate directions. The psychological and blackly comic thriller world premieres in TIFF’s Discovery section, having already been selected for the BFI and British Council’s Great 8 showcase at Cannes. MetFilm Sales recently boarded world sales on the film, which stars Liam Harkins, Stephen McMillan, Kathleen McDermott and Conor McCarron.
Set largely in Greenock, a post-industrial Scottish town, “Salvation” follows Danny Carlton, played by Harkins, as he emerges from a self-improvement retreat convinced he has found the way forward. Having been transformed, at least in his own mind, by charismatic guru Marshall Allison (Kevin O’Loughlin), Danny sets off to build a life coaching business of his own. The problem is that virtually nobody wants what he is selling while the money he has spent and borrowed pursuing it grows.
For Nicoll, the film was never primarily about finding easy targets in the world of male influencers. With Danny, that became a question of “what is lacking” to compel someone’s move towards a culture offering answers, status and self-optimization. We see Danny’s excitement and defence of his new found answers among a doubtful circle of family and acquaintances.
His confidence might be misplaced, but he isn’t cynical. When he tells Scott, a depressed young man played by Stephen McMillan who comes to see him, all he’s learnt and how he wants to help he’s genuine. The result is a chain of unequal relationships: Marshall has power over Danny, while Danny gains power over Scott.
For Nicoll, that dynamic goes beyond any single strain of digital culture. At a moment of insecurity, the promise that somebody else knows how to sort it can prove hard to resist. Nicoll had previously directed Liam Harkins in short “Lighting Tests” and wrote Danny around a rare combination he saw in the actor: an outwardly conventional masculinity alongside vulnerability, sensitivity and comedic timing.
The director recalls nervously arranging a Zoom between his two leads prior to filming, preparing questions in case conversation petered out. Working with cinematographer Alex Grigoras, Nicoll chose a 4:3 frame. The format offered intimacy and, as Danny’s choices reduce, claustrophobia.
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