“Set against the volatile backdrop of a London in chaos, Wildcat is a story about what happens when desperation meets determination — and how far a mother will go to protect her child. It’s a story of loyalty, lethality and tenacity,” says Producer Crawford Anderson-Dillon.
“What drew us to this project was its mix of intensity and dark humour — a tone that feels distinctly London: sharp, ironic, and unflinchingly honest. Beneath the gunfire and neon, Wildcat is about the cost of love and the weight of moral compromise. Ada’s journey isn’t just an action narrative; it’s an emotional reckoning. She’s fierce, flawed, and frighteningly real, a character that was then brought to life in visceral colour by Ms Beckinsale’s performance, and those of her co-stars,” says Producer Crawford Anderson-Dillon.
He continues: “We aimed to build a world that feels tactile — the grime of backstreets, the pulse of a city on the edge, the claustrophobia of time running out. Every choice, from cinematography to sound design, was made to immerse the audience in that pressure-cooker atmosphere while still allowing moments of twisted humour and humanity to break through. It’s an out-and-out action movie, set in a dark world where life is cheap, but we didn’t want it to be bleak.”
“Producing Wildcat has been about more than crafting an action thriller — it’s been about capturing the spirit of a city and the resilience of a woman who refuses to surrender. It’s gritty, stylish, and fiercely emotional — a film that hits hard but stays true to the beating heart at its centre.”
When her brother Edward’s dodgy dealing gets her daughter Charlotte kidnapped, ex Special Forces operative, Ada Williams, is forced to lean on every skill she has to get her back. Pulling her old team together for one last job, they have to race against time, and a city descending into chaos, before it’s too late and Charlotte is lost to a murky underworld.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT – James Nunn
When I first read Wildcat, it wasn’t just the action and the jet black humour that hooked me, it was the people inside it. It’s the story of Ada, a mother forced to resurrect the violent skills of her past to save her daughter’s life. Reunited with a team of soldiers bound by loyalty and friendship, haunted by their past and forced into London’s deadly criminal underworld.
I’ve always been drawn to stories that move fast and hit hard. With Wildcat, I wanted to balance precision and action, the discipline of Kate’s character (Ada) and Lewis Tan (Roman) against the raw emotion of a kidnapped child. The film lives in that tension. It’s slick when it needs to be, but with a gritty edge.
What really drove me was the heart of it, the bond between these characters and the child they’re trying to save. Beneath all the gunfire and tactics, it’s a story about redemption and humanity. About doing the right thing, even when you’re trained for something else.
While the story unfolds against chaos and violence, the real tension lies within Ada herself, between who she was, who she’s become, and how far she’ll go to protect the only person that matters.
In terms of tone and execution, Wildcat feels visceral and fun. It’s immediate and real. I wanted the camera work to be fluid and energetic, but never confusing; the editing to be fast but the geography clear, with a propulsive score to make your heart thump and your palms sweaty.
My goal was to make it feel immersive, you’re in the room, in the fight, in the decision. I wanted the audience to feel the adrenaline, but also the cost. Because in the end, Wildcat isn’t just about the mission. It’s about who you are when the mission is over, and sometimes the wildcat inside you never stops hunting.
SCREENWRITER’S STATEMENT – Dee Dee
The hope when writing Wildcat was for the script to work on two parallel levels; on the surface it’s an action packed, fast paced thriller populated with a wild array of different characters, some of whom thrive in the chaos, others desperately want to get out. But all of them live within the orbit of London’s underworld, whether they like it or not.
I love the idea of exploring a world just beneath the one we’re all familiar with – in everyday life we might catch the occasional glimpse of this murky, mysterious and dangerous world but it exists beyond our reach – thankfully! But our story is going to jump head first into it for an adrenalin fuelled adventure with a ticking clock…
At the same time the script also touches upon issues that have been powerful influences on my life – the complications of having a loved one with severe mental health issues. Nothing is ever black and white when dealing with mental health and Ada’s indefatigable love and patience for her brother is not something that’s easily understood, especially for anyone who’s never experienced anything comparable.
And the importance of loyalty to family and friends, I’m both fascinated by, as well as drawn to, characters who step up and put themselves in harms way with no other motivation other than to help those they love.
And of course there’s the gallows humour, a frequently used coping mechanism when faced with terrifying adversity – in my opinion there’s always a way to find a laugh even within the most testing of circumstances.
Finally, I wanted to tell a story led by a female protagonist and featuring powerful female characters but without the story being about the fact they are women. Ada must navigate a labyrinth classically occupied by alpha males – but she fights her way through without complaint, just like so many other women do in every day life. There’s a line uttered toward the end of the film by our male villain, Mahoney, – ‘I know for a woman to reach the same place as a man in this world, she’s had to work twice as hard’… The irony being that Mahoney is an outright chauvinist who doesn’t believe a word of what he’s saying. But his words are something I’ve always found to be true.
Ultimately I hoped to write a film I would love to watch. You can consider the deeper issues lying beneath the surface or you can just sit back and have fun – or both! In the current climate it feels like a miracle to have a script actually made into a movie and I’m beyond thrilled with the film James Nunn has created and to have Kate Beckinsale playing Ada is a dream come true.
VISUAL APPROACH – Chris Richmond, Production Designer
The world I created for the script “Wildcat” to unfold heightened the diverse nature of the urban fabric of inner city London. Where the criminal world, the underground and its residents are constantly in flux, and at war to keep power over a constantly shifting city landscape – Something that hopefully rings true and resonates with inner city inhabitants throughout the world.
MUSIC – Si Beggs, Composer
After chatting with director James and seeing initial scenes of Wildcat, two things sprang to mind: a stylised neon-tinged universe and London in all its gritty glory. So my thinking was let’s smash these things together. To this aim I took a healthy dose of London’s filthy, grimey bass culture, which was something I’ve always been very much tuned into since my DJing days in late 90s East London and mixed it with a future looking electronica heavy score, which is a world I love. After getting deeper into the narrative, I also saw an opportunity for the music to help push the race against time arc whilst underpinning Ava’s emotional landscape. She may well be kicking butts left right and centre but I also wanted us to care about why she was kicking butts left right and centre!. So when submitting cues for review, as well as wanting to make sure Dom (writer and one of the producers) and James were feeling pure STRESS I also wanted them to feel Ava’s love and fears for her family. I hope to some extent we succeeded, I certainly had a blast in the studio so hope that energy seeps into the audience experience!
EDIT – Ben Mills, Editor
My inspiration for editing Wildcat came from how gritty and emotional the story felt underneath all the action and comedy. Finding the balance between the fast-paced, high energy scenes and the more vulnerable moments that show who Ada’s character really is were tricky to find but I think James, Don and I really made them land. Every edit was about keeping that tension alive while still letting the audience connect with her strength and struggle. The tone of the movie was a challenge to balance as her brother Ed presents a lot of comedy moments so it was really about taking those comedic nuances and applying them so they felt relatable and providing the audience with more to grasp when the story takes another hard turn.
JAMES NUNN, DIRECTOR/PRODUCER
James Nunn is an award-winning film director who has cemented himself as an international talent in the thriller and action genres. He has recently completed simultaneous post-production on two films – Wildcat for Capstone and Hungry, from his own screenplay, a creature feature for Signature. Next up James will complete his ‘One Shot’ trilogy by directing One Last Shot.
Recent successes include his single-take action franchise One Shot and One More Shot (Screen Media / Signature / Sky Original), which he helmed during the pandemic. His showcase of both technical ability and a strong visual style on these movies alone has landed him a reputation for elevating all projects that he is attached to and consistently proving James to be an exciting, unique and professional director for studios and talent alike. He has several projects in development as writer and/or director.
In the past, James’ films have premiered at highly regarded genre festivals such as Fantastic Fest and Film4 Frightfest and he has won an RTS (Royal Television Society) drama award for his short film-making and the Sitges ‘Grand Prize of European Fantasy Film’ for his debut movie Tower Block, described as ‘The best British film of 2012’ – heDD magazine.
Before directing, James’s extensive experience as a 1st Assistant Director and 2nd Unit Director on projects like the 47 METRES DOWN franchise and Stephen Knight’s A Christmas Carol further illustrates his impressive ability to work with a wide array of production and distribution companies.
