Rafting their way through swampy, reed-filled backwaters on a make-do boat, drinking whiskey and eating watermelon on deserted beaches, the film is also a paean to the picturesque vistas of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, imbued with the beauty and mysticism of Nigel Bluck’s cinematography. This third collaboration between writers and co-producers Michael Schwartz and Tyler Nilson is a sleeper-hit revision of the road trip genre imbued with a steadfast sense of adventure inspired by Mark Twain escapades.īelow, co-director Michael Schwartz talks to us about bringing the film to fruition and the importance of allowing actors space and time to forge real connections. Along the way he befriends Tyler (Shia LaBeouf), an out-of-luck crabber on the run from rivals. What started as a passion project between friends, jotting down notes from conversations on the road to weave into a script, snowballed into an award-winning entrant to this year’s SXSW festival with an all-star cast.Ī tale of camaraderie and makeshift family, The Peanut Butter Falcon follows the story of Zak (Zack Gottsagen), a young man with Down’s syndrome who escapes his suffocating life in a care home to pursue dream of becoming a professional wrestler.
Having previously only worked on short films and commercials, it was a serendipitous encounter with Zack, an aspiring actor with Down’s syndrome, that led Schwartz and Nilson to pen their first feature film, The Peanut Butter Falcon, five years ago.
