Scottish writer-director Tom Nicoll is unveling at Toronto his buzzy debut โSalvation.โ 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 TIFFโs Discovery section, having already been selected for the BFI and British Councilโs 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, โSalvationโ 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 OโLoughlin), 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.
โI suppose, in general, in my life, Iโm interested in that idea of what people find purpose in, what people choose to do with their lives, what they find value in, what they choose to put their energy into,โ he told Variety. With Danny, that became a question of โwhat is lackingโ to compel someoneโs move towards a culture offering answers, status and self-optimization.
โI donโt think anyoneโs ever been insulted into changing their mind,โ Nicoll explained. โItโs easy to point and laugh at someone.โ A sweeping satire of the influencer sphere might provide โeasy jokesโ for five or ten minutes, he argues, but understanding why somebody is susceptible is the harder and more interesting motivation to pursue.
We see Dannyโs excitement and defence of his new found answers among a doubtful circle of family and acquaintances. His confidence might be misplaced, but he isnโt cynical. When he tells Scott, a depressed young man played by Stephen McMillan who comes to see him, all heโs learnt and how he wants to help heโs genuine.
โHe really means that when heโs saying that Marshall saved him from a very dark place,โ says Nicoll. โThat is, I think, a crucial part of the character.โ Over the course of the film, โthe economic imperative kind of takes over,โ altering the relationship between Danny and Scott as the former discovers the wordplay he absorbed as self-help can turn into a tool for manipulation.
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.
โMost people could probably relate to the idea of when you go online and someoneโs telling you how to eat better or exercise better or be happier, be in a better relationship,โ he said. 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 โLighting Testsโ and wrote Danny around a rare combination he saw in the actor: an outwardly conventional masculinity alongside vulnerability, sensitivity and comedic timing.
โI had the idea for the story and thought he would be perfect for the role,โ said Nicoll, who sent drafts back and forth to Harkins roughly a year before shooting. โI knew that on a production standpoint, he would just be the rock that could build the production around.โ
The relationship at the filmโs centre needed warmth as well as exploitation. The director recalls nervously arranging a Zoom between his two leads prior to filming, preparing questions in case conversation petered out.
โI think I probably said about three things in the hour,โ he says. โThey were just chatting, getting to know each other, and then just talking about the characters.โ A later read-through of three key scenes confirmed the chemistry: โIt was an amazing one of being like, โOh, weโve got something here.โโ
That closeness is gradually squeezed by the filmโs visual language. Working with cinematographer Alex Grigoras, Nicoll chose a 4:3 frame. โWe always knew it was going to be a film of faces,โ he says. The format offered intimacy and, as Dannyโs choices reduce, claustrophobia. Centering him clarifies his self-absorption. He is initially, โthe centre of his own world.โ
The use of long lenses compress the spaces around him, particularly in the interiors, while stillness releases giving way to unsettled camerawork as the predicament deteriorates.ย
Composer Salla Luhtalaโs score pushes in almost the opposite direction. At the start, as Danny leaves the retreat filled with new conviction, the music enlarges his modest circumstances matching the way he sees himself.
โItโs like the world is his oyster. Thatโs what he feels like,โ Nicoll explained. โIt should feel like heโs reborn. It should feel like new momentum. It should feel like the new life is calling him.โ Rather than standing outside Danny and mocking the fantasy, Nicoll wanted audiences pulled into it.
โSalvationโ is as Indie as it gets assembled through self-financing and crowdfunding, with Screen Scotland boarding late and providing ยฃ45,000 ($60,750) through its Production Growth Fund. Shot around Greenock and Glasgow, the production initially completed 15 days before returning months later for a few more days.
โThatโs the nature of independent filmmaking, I suppose,โ he says. But the enforced pause became โan amazing opportunity,โ allowing a chance to clarify the story and add โscale and cinematic scope at the right moments.โ
Nicoll looked to an American independent tradition for ways of making those limitations feel like choices. Sean Bakerโs โRed Rocketโ and earlier work were reference points, as was Kelly Reichardtโs โOld Joyโ: films capable of retaining a distinct voice without requiring vast resources.
And what of that word โSalvationโ?
โItโs the kind of underpinning, I think, of a lot of these self-help ideas,โ says Nicoll. โYou can be saved from this thing, and you can move into a kind of hallowed place, or a place free of this previous pain or this previous deficiency. And I donโt know if I believe in that.โ
The film isnโt interested in providing a clean, moralistic conclusion. The director prefers films that resist โeasy answers,โ leaving open the question of whether Danny is capable of deep reflection or likely to place explanations for everything that has happened to him elsewhere.
For a film that Nicoll describes as โan independent film in its bones,โ there is buzz around it. MetFilm Salesโ acquisition adds a strong international sales push to a run that has included Great 8 and selection as one of Screen Internationalโs Rising Stars Scotland 2026.
โItโs been pretty wild,โ Nicoll said. โItโs pretty much close to best-case scenarioโ for a film made this way. More importantly, he adds, โit is the film I wanted to make.โ
The recognition offers the possibility of scaling up, something the writer-director is keen to pursue as he looks to move beyond the indie and micro-budget level. He has several scripts in various stages, including larger-scale thriller and horror projects. โAmbition can be talked about just as it relates to budget, but I think itโs about your approach to characters and characterisation, and how deep youโre willing to go in terms of excavating what it is to be human,โ he says. โThatโs what ambition is about in filmmaking to me, and thatโs what I would want to take going forward, no matter the level of budget.โ
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