Director Christian Sesma is known for his action films, but Section 8 may be one of his most intense yet. Ryan Kwanten stars as Jake Atherton, a former military man whose family is tragically killed one night. After getting revenge on the man who killed his wife and son, Jake ends up in prison before he is offered a deal he can't refuse. In exchange for his freedom, Jake will work for a shady government organization that "eliminates threats" anywhere in the world.
Section 8 also stars Dolph Lundgren, Dermot Mulroney, Scott Adkins, and Mickey Rourke. Naturally, Section 8 finds Jake questioning the morality of the organization. When he may be forced to go up against the people he's working with, things take a dire turn.
Screen Rant sat down with Sesma to talk Section 8, including the state of action movies today, what it was like working with his star-studded cast, and more.
Director Talks Section 8
Screen Rant: Action is kind of your bread and butter. What drew you to Section 8's story and how do you approach a film like this to make sure you're not just repeating yourself in the genre over and over again?
Christian Sesma: Yeah, that's the trick, right? I mean, when Chad Law, the writer who's a good friend, great writer, came to me with this project with Brandon Burrows, a producer, they said, "Look, we have this cool little action film, I think we're going to package some, some cool guys in it." I think what excited me was not just working with like Mickey and Dolp, Dermot, and Scott - Scott, and I have a few more projects together. But Ryan was a very interesting lead for this movie that I felt was a very interesting choice.
And for me, the differentiating piece of Section 8 really is this family human element that I knew that if I could kind of nail that down, that would be really exciting for me to explore, right? Just this emotional element that will drive this bang, shoot 'em up, kind of typical action thing. So I think that was kind of this key for me that was exciting to explore - to kind of make this dramatic, suspenseful first opening act. And then we get into some really cool Mission: Impossible, bang-bang, shooter style things. But it all kind of circles back to the family and Ryan's character and the losses he's suffered.
It's a very intense movie because of that emotional throughline. How do you kind of help your actors train and get into the proper mindset for a role like that?
Christian Sesma: For that, that's something that you know, I live in Palm Springs, and Ryan has another house in Joshua Tree. So it's something that we got together beforehand and really talked about because it was, again, we were like, look, we knew that the family stuff, we really had to kind of explore some unscripted things, flashbacks. How we're going to execute that, how he saw me executing the loss of the family, the dynamic relationship with his son, which is very tender and sweet, and those kinds of things. So I felt like we talked about that and also the ending quite a bit. So we just made sure to kind of book end the movie with him and his character and the humanity of it all. And, you know, he was in 100%. And Ryan was amazing as the lead for this movie for sure.
You've spoken about growing up watching Spielberg, George Lucas, big action-adventure blockbusters. Now, in theaters, it's all superhero movies, and we never get that grit of early 2000s action movies. What were some inspirations you kind of drew from?
Christian Sesma: Like you just mentioned it before talking about John McTiernan stuff. I mean, it definitely is. I felt like the way Die Hard does [the] kind of everyday man's journey through the action genre. Ryan wasn't this martial arts cool superhero, Arnold Schwarzenegger type. I felt like Ryan was like an everyday guy and just opening that was a part of the script that I liked a lot. He's just a retired military guy and now he's just working in the garage, making ends meet - a total blue-collar working type. And he gets drawn into this world by the choices he made, and it becomes fantastic, the bigger he gets thrown into this giant political world of action. But I just feel like it works because, for me, I always kind of went back to the John McClane style character for this.
In addition to Ryan, you've got Mickey, Dolph, Dermot Mulroney all these action stars. What is it like working with them? Did you learn anything from them while on set and watching them do their thing?
Christian Sesma: Look, the level these guys have. They've all been there, done that, and work with the best in the business. So I just always appreciate their level of professionalism, how prepared they are, how ready to rock they are. And it's one of those things where, big or small, indie or giant studio film, they do approach the material, if they like you, in the same way. So, I think that working with them was a lot of fun. I guess what I learned is more of a personal thing, where it's like when you have all artists, and we're all on the same page, and we're all looking to make the same, we have the same end goal, it becomes a really fun, collaborative, medium as it should be.
Ryan mentioned that final action seen being one of his favorites just because it was him and Scott just going at it. I know it's so hard to pick your darlings, but did you have a favorite scene to shoot or a favorite one to approach from a directorial perspective?
Christian Sesma: I really do think that my favorite sequence, as I say, from this movie, I mean, it's like the action. So like, there's a lot of cool stuff. I love the casino shoot-up. That's a cool flex. That was great. The end house fight is fantastic. But I gotta say, for me, the sequence of him coming home, the family sequence, I guess that was something I really, really set out to try to execute the way I really wanted to. From the moment he comes and finds his family to the moment he takes out the guy that killed his kids and stuff. That's one of my favorites, I think because you're going on a big roller coaster. If that didn't work, everybody would be checked out.
About Section 8
Sentenced to prison for avenging the murder of his family, a former soldier gets a second chance when a shadowy government agency recruits him for an assignment. However, he soon realizes that the very people who freed him are not what they seem.
Check out our interview with Section 8 star Ryan Kwanten as well.
Section 8 is now playing in theaters and is available to stream on AMC+.