British stars George MacKay and Rosy McEwen can admit: Mission was one of the least conventional shooting experiences they’ve ever had. It also happened to be one of the most liberating.

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Director Paul Wright (Arcadia) throws caution to the wind in his latest feature film, set to premiere in competition at Edinburgh Film Festival on Saturday. The Glasgow-set Mission follows Dylan (MacKay), a young Scot who has reached the end of his tether with a dead-end job and lonely, unfulfilling existence. Over the course of a week, he seeks meaning in the wake of extreme chaos — such as breaking a monkey out of the local zoo, attacking a police officer and experimenting in some X-rated BDSM — as he attempts to feel alive. Dylan regularly gets in touch with his sister, Claire (McEwen), who is shocked by her sibling’s existential angst and frenetic energy.

The final product is, impressively, mostly improv. Wright didn’t have an initial script. “Paul made a huge lookbook of images to give a sense of the film tonally,” MacKay explains, “and then there were a series of circumstances and incidents for the characters to be in.” Much of the meaning of this film — to MacKay’s delight, having had his life “changed” by Wright on the set of 2013’s For Those in Peril — was discovered in the making of it. “[We were] exploring how much of a story or a character we could create by almost making an archive of material, and then have him discover a lot of it in the edit,” says MacKay. “It was, creatively, a really interesting idea.”

McEwen had never quite done a job like it. “You’d have a slight context for the scene — we knew exactly what was happening and what our characters were feeling — [but] there was so much scope to play with,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the film’s world premiere. “The freedom of that I’ve never experienced before. Just not knowing where it was going to go and the options being limitless.”

The pair also just so happen to be two of the most in-demand Brits working right now. MacKay, star of 1917, has the hotly anticipated Sense and Sensibility adaptation out in October, as well as Margot Robbie’s untitled Ocean’s Eleven prequel coming up. Blue Jean and Black Mirror‘s McEwen, meanwhile, is currently playing a young Nicole Kidman on Prime Video’s Scarpetta. Below, they talk to THR about ad-libbing, absurdism and what keeps bringing them back to independent film: “These big studio [films], it’s a totally different beast… The freedom you get on these smaller sets. This is where I become a better actor. And if you’re not growing, what are you really doing?”

George, I know that you and Paul have worked together before. Was that a big draw for you with Mission?

GEORGE MACKAY It was everything. The film we did together was a wee while ago now. It was called For Those in Peril, and it genuinely was life-changing. It was such a wonderful working experience. It was so exciting and invigorating and creative and I’m so proud to be a part of that film. I think the film itself is really great and it went on to do cool things. It went to the Directors Fortnight in Cannes and Paul and I just became and stayed firm friends. It taught me so much about a way of working and his directing style. With that first film, there was a fair amount of improv with certain sequences, and he shot quite economically, but shot a lot of footage. Rather than do six two-minute takes, we’d do one 10-minute take, and so you learn that a lot of this won’t be used. You felt comfortable to really explore beyond what your first offering would be, but it also had that momentum.

So when this came around, I think we both felt that there was an element of [experimentation]… something that was made really with process [prioritized] ahead of what it would be after. [There was] this film he made, Arcadia, which was this archive documentary where he found the narrative out of archive material. Exploring how much of a story or a character we could create by almost making an archive of material, and then have him discover a lot of it in the edit as well, was just, creatively, a really interesting idea. That was a big part of wanting to do Mission.

What a playground for you guys. Rosy, did you find it was quite a different directorial style to what you’re used to?

ROSY MCEWEN Yes, and one of my favorite experiences ever. It was so freeing, so liberating. Firstly, the crew was really small. The whole thing felt very intimate. I was only there for a few days at the beginning and a few days at the end. So I didn’t even really get the whole experience. But my days that I was there, I felt like I lived a whole life because sometimes it would just be Paul and then the DOP and you in a room, and he would just roll, and 20 minutes would go by. You’d have a slight context for the scene — we knew exactly what was happening and what our characters were feeling — [but] there was so much scope to play with. The freedom of that I’ve never experienced before. Just not knowing where it was going to go and the options being limitless.

Going back to the writing of this, what attracted you to the script?

MACKAY The initial idea was not to have a script. The first thing was a series of images. Paul made a huge lookbook of images to give a sense of the film tonally, and then there were a series of circumstances and incidents for the characters to be in… And as the film becomes a reality, you have to narrow what you’re doing because of all the logistical elements. Like, okay, to do that, we need to book that location. What kit do we need to make that location? Do we really need that? So things get distilled.

Then the narrative is born out of the trajectory of the character. So the initial idea was very energetic. It was images and tone and character more so than a fixed narrative, and then we came to hone it into a script for the practicalities of shooting. Then you put your thumb on the end of the hose trying to get the accuracy and the pressure of the story.

How unconventional. Were you ad-libbing a lot? Was there a lot of improv? There was so much realism to Claire and Dylan’s interactions, especially.

MACKAY Yeah, yeah. Loads of improv. There’s the big scene we have at the end, and that was very scripted. But there’s so much of it that is improv, really.

MCEWEN And I would come back to set and hear wild stories about what George had done, because the setup of the scene would be like, you were in a zoo, and then suddenly [crew members] were like, “George got in this thing, and then suddenly he was running down the street, and then there was a monkey!” (Laughs.) We never quite knew where it was going to end up, and the freedom of that, that’s all down to Paul because you have to be inspired to be able to be that free. You can’t just plop someone in a room and be like, “Go for it.” The idea behind it — these people who just want to break free of convention — was fizzing inside. I imagine you felt the same thing, George, but Paul had just set us up so well that it was always easy to just let the flow take over.

George, do you recall how Paul relayed to you the journey that Dylan is going on through in this film? What is he trying to depict, at its core?

MACKAY At its core, it’s someone who’s trying to get back to [something]. I think he reached a high in his early years. He had a spiritual experience, for want of a better term, that took him to the edge of life, and there was something so extraordinary about that. He’s just in the time in between — in the workings of the world and the world he exists in hasn’t been able to ever get close [to that experience]. He’s been moving the opposite way of getting close to reaching that extraordinary feeling again. I think it’s as pure as that. So he basically gives himself a window of time, and the mission is to commit to feeling as much as possible — at whatever cost — and then the story is about [what happens] once you commit to that. It sounds easy and flippant, but the reality of what that involves… The reality of that chaos is quite troubling, even if you’re wanting it. He’s simultaneously lost and totally clear on what he wants to do.

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How do you begin to find relatability there? What do you tap into as an actor, and how do you shake that off at the end of the day? I can imagine this was pretty intense at times.

MACKAY I wouldn’t go as far as Dylan goes in my own life, but I think there is a lot to question. Also, Paul is so incredibly well-read. He got me to read a bunch of books and texts and [listen to] music. I think so much of the extraordinary discoveries in history about people pushing beyond boundaries and going, “Well, why is it only this? Why not this way?” There are so many things like that. In my own head, I’m confounded by it still. I’m trying to think of the term. (Pauses.) I’m on the hamster wheel as much as everyone else, trying to make a good living, do good work and the steps that that takes. But reading the text, capitalism does not make sense. It’s a race to the bottom, and so many things that we participate in… we do that knowingly. What I loved about this story is it really looks at someone who’s deemed, essentially, to be off the track and wayward for having a very clear understanding of [his path].

So much of what we do does not make sense and I think if you put it to most people, they would agree. How we live our lives, what we value, how we value it, the means with which we go about it. The imbalance of the world is so extraordinary and yet we are thrilled to continue participating it, and I include myself in that bracket. But this is why the character was so interesting, because there’s a bunch of things which I think I feel, but don’t go towards. It’s so worthwhile to explore them in this rather extreme example. [Mission] is almost at the end of the story. It becomes about an understanding of compromise and things that were maybe there all along, or things that went too far. But the attraction of Dylan was, I guess, playing an extreme example of someone who was committed to a way of thinking and experimenting within that, without saying it’s right or wrong necessarily.

And Rosy, what angle is Claire coming at this from? How do you envision they’ve become estranged?

MCEWEN I think they are examples of people feeling probably the same thing, but dealing with it in very different ways. I don’t think Claire has the fearlessness that Dylan ends up personifying. I think she feels probably more saddened by life. I see the irony of that, because obviously what happens to Dylan at the end, but I think she accepted her fate, and she feels like quite a sad person to me because of that. I think she feels like life is about going through the motions, and, “Yes, I feel everything that you’re feeling, Dylan, but there’s nothing that you can do about that. This is just life.”

We talked a lot about what trauma they have been through. I don’t know if we ever put full buttons on exactly what they’d experienced, but there was obviously something there in their childhood which had bonded them and dampened any magic that they’d found as kids. There are a lot of layers there. She’s probably a bit jealous of Dylan that he deals with it in the way that she doesn’t really know how to break free from. And when we were shooting a lot of the scenes of Claire in her bedroom, there was a lot of crying and there was a lot of screaming and there was a lot of internalizing everything that Dylan externalizes in the end. I think they’re cut from the same cloth. But yeah, they’re just two examples of how you cope. Neither one right nor wrong, really.

Had you guys worked together before this?

MACKAY We hadn’t! Had we even met? I think it was the first time.

MCEWEN No! It was the first everything. George and Paul are the reason I did it. I didn’t know anything about it. I hadn’t seen the script. They were like, “Do you want to do a few days on a film with George?” and I was like, “Yeah, absolutely. I think I can do that. When do you need me?” Then I learned about everything, I got up there and it was explained [to me]. I didn’t even really know how it was going to be shot. I didn’t know the freedom we were going to have. So the whole thing was this very beautiful surprise.

Also: A great Scottish accent from both of you in this. Did you guys have an accent coach?

MACKAY Yes, yes, but also that was one of the biggest things about working with Paul the first time. I played a Scottish character in Paul’s first film many, many moons ago. It was the first time that I did an accent for a whole job. From when I got in the car to leaving the set, I was always in the accent. So there was a fundamental Scottish connection with Paul. It was nice to dust it off.

MCEWEN I’m sure [MacKay’s] is much better than mine.

MACKAY No, no! You’re sweet.

MCEWEN I think there were many times during this that I was like, “Paul, this is really bad. You’ll cut it, right?” So I think the editors helped me out.

What do you hope resonates with audiences watching Mission in Edinburgh?

MACKAY I hope that people question a way of being. There are no answers in it really, just more questions. I think genuinely, the biggest thing is about a process of work. Whatever people think of the film, it was endeavored to be made with purely with the process at its heart. The most important thing was the way the film was made, rather than what the film became, and I think that is so so valid. And films like that need festivals to hold them because they are harder to grasp some of the time. I’m so grateful that Edinburgh is celebrating it and championing it. But I hope that people are thrilled by the experimentation.

MCEWEN I think you’re right. I hope people leave with questions. And to me, the film is about freedom. Are you asking yourself questions about the way you’re living your life? Are you actually happy? Are you doing the things you really want to be doing? I think the literal context of what Dylan gets up to is not necessarily the most important nor the right answer, as you said. But I think it’s more like, what if I just said that thing that I’m really wanting to say? What if I actually break up with that person? We can get so subdued in the monotony of life and big changes feel scary. I hope it helps people ask themselves questions about freedom.

Both of you have extremely big projects currently out or coming out — big studio stuff. George, you have Sense and Sensibility. Rosy, you have Scarpetta. What pulls you back to independent film?

MACKAY For me, this project was really about Paul. I’m so grateful to Paul for the first project that we did together 14 years ago. It really did change my life in four weeks. It was so special. So I always want to work with Paul, and I feel so privileged that he’d asked to work with me again. In terms of independent film, the very nature of independent film is they are oftentimes smaller, and inherently in the way they’re put together, you can be a bit autonomous in your creative choices. Because you’re not bound financially to a higher power, and that has its merits for creative experimentation. And I think it’s really important that we keep experimenting, whether those experiments always come off perfectly or not. The value is in the experimentation in itself. Without those experiments, you don’t get new stuff. So I think that’s a reason to always come back to it

MCEWEN To be honest, I think you’d be hard-pressed to find an actor who wouldn’t want to solely do great indie films. I just feel like that’s actually most people’s dream. But the reality of life is that you have to make money. And I’m not downplaying these studio things. We endeavor to pick jobs that inspire us, but these things that happen in a more intimate setting — that is where I learn. You’re right, George. Experimentation. It’s where I feel like I grow. That’s where I feel like I’m not just moving through the motions. These big studio ones, it’s a totally different beast. It uses a different skill set, whereas the freedom you get on these smaller sets. This is where I become a better actor. And if you’re not growing, what are you really doing?

This interview has been shortened and edited for clarity. The 2026 Edinburgh International Film Festival runs Aug. 13-19.

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