The Hollywood Reporter can unveil an exclusive clip from Ollie Gardner and Jake Harvey’s The State of Us, ahead of its premiere in competition at Edinburgh International Film Festival on Friday.
Led by California Schemin‘s Samuel Bottomley and It’s a Sin breakout star Callum Scott Howells, the British indie follows a boisterous tearaway called Frankie (Bottomley), who is struggling to come to terms with the inevitability of losing his best friend Taylor (Howells) to cancer. Frankie impulsively breaks Taylor out of hospice care for one final night of fun and debauchery, but what promises to be a night of hedonism quickly becomes something much more complicated.
In the clip, Bottomley’s character can be seen cajoling Howells’ Taylor into having a drink and letting loose at a house party. On the dance floor, Taylor feels some semblance of relief as he reconnects with his childhood best friend.
The characters in The State of Us are loosely based on Harvey’s childhood friendship group, in particular a friend called Jake Andrews, who died from cancer at the age of 18. Harvey and Gardner first met at university before pursuing careers in the arts — Harvey in TV, Gardner in theater — and with this movie, make their feature-length debuts. Co-starring with Bottomley and Howells are Frances Barber, Safia Oakley-Green, Seamus O’Hara, and Duggal Ram.
