Director Ryan Prows, along with actors RJ Cyler and Freddie Gibbs, immerses us in a chilling new world of horror in the film, Night Patrol.
LISTEN NOW: The cast of 'Night Patrol' with Romeo International
The movie follows the story of an LAPD officer who must set aside his differences with the local street gangs when he uncovers a horrifying secret within a police task force. This secret poses a grave threat to the residents of the housing projects he grew up in. Despite the chaos surrounding him, the film emphasizes the importance of community, culture, and the core value of family. The cast recently sat down for an exclusive interview with Romeo International for Audacy.
In this creative process that you put together on Night Patrol, How did the concept come about and how was it presented to everybody in the cast?
RYAN PROWS: "I wrote it with 3 other guys. We wrote our last film together, 'Low Life.' As we were kind of kicking around ideas, we just, we knew we wanted to tackle really big questions, really big problems of the day, but then wrap that up in a fun package, do a horror, thriller, wild ass movie that these guys just completely shine in."
In the storyline, you're more of a balance. How did you plug that into Night Patrol?
RJ CYLER: "Just keeping a realistic tie right, because there's real elements in every character. I think my character just had one that was less dramatic or less boisterous. I could kind of add a little sauce here to kind of keep the story consistent and not overwhelm people with a lot of different strong personalities. He's already a kind of wild character. I mean, if you think about it, he's mostly scared of too much for me to be, you know. So I feel like Ryan just really wrote it this way and then trusted R.J. to kind of elevate the story.
Now, the one thing about the film that I hope people catch, you do give a sense of responsibility to it. There is.. Police element. There is family management. But the story is fun, scary, and fun. Was that purposely done? Or did you not want it to be a typical rah, rah, rah, shoot them up?
RYAN PROWS: "We definitely intended to do like, you know, pulling from 'Boys In The Hood' or 'Menace II Society,' or those type of films mixed with 'Training Day' or 'End Of Watch' cop films, very LA specific stuff. We wanted to push that and kind of make something new with adding a vampire element to it.
I know that on screen, that has to be represented a certain way and not over the top and not disrespect. Did that come into play with your character?
FREDDIE GIBBS: It came into play with my character, but I mean, you got to credit YG for that, that was his vision, he's from LA. He's you know, up that element. I'd say that street element. I just basically followed his lead when it came to that type of stuff on set, you know, and just did my job.
Night Patrol hits theaters nationwide Friday, January 16.