On Night Patrol: “It Was Pretty Cool To Sit Back & Watch Justin Long Work.”

At Fantastic Fest, actor RJ Cyler and director Ryan Prows discuss their new film Night Patrol, including working with Justin Long and crazy stunts.

Director Ryan Prows and star RJ Cyler sat down with Mama’s Geeky to discuss their genre-bending film, Night Patrol. The movie, which premiered at Fantastic Fest, follows an LAPD officer who must put aside his differences with the area’s street gangs when he discovers a local police task force is harboring a horrific secret that endangers the residents of the housing projects he grew up in.

In this interview, Ryan Prows and RJ Cyler share their experience working on the film, what makes Fantastic Fest the perfect place for its premiere, and how they would describe the movie without giving away its wild secrets.

Fantastic Fest Attendees Are Real Genre Fans

Mama’s Geeky: What is it about Fantastic Fest that makes this the perfect place for Night Patrol?

RJ Cyler: I think the fans here are actually fans of the comic world, of horror. We watched them play Dungeons & Dragons on the big screen yesterday. I’m like, they are locked in. This is real. This is just like NFL sports betting, just as intense. There’s trash-talking, but it’s nice. And you don’t yield. I think the freedom that these fans have is just like us, in a way. You feel me? They all made a cosplay costume, so they understand creativity. They’re very smart when it comes to the genre. There was a fan that came up to us yesterday and started singing, but he knew—he’s a cinephile. You feel me? So it’s like, here is kind of where you can get honest criticism. They actually know the world and the genre and are excited about it.

Ryan Prows: Yeah. And just like the crowds and the atmosphere of the whole thing. My first time here was with VHS 94 in 2021, and it was right after the pandemic. It was very subdued. So everyone was like, “Get ready for, ‘We’re back, baby!'” I was just like, my eyes popped the whole time. It was a big difference. There are no tumbleweeds rolling through the street out there.

Watching Night Patrol With The Fantastic Fest Audience

Mama’s Geeky: What was that experience like watching Night Patrol with the Fantastic Fest audience?

RJ Cyler: I waited to watch it for the first time here. Because the first time that Ryan was like, “I could watch it,” he hadn’t musically scored it yet. So I was like, “Nah, I gotta let the whole baby be put together.” My agent was like, “It’s pretty fucking hard,” and I was like, “I know, but with the music, it’s only like, ‘Ah!’ into the theater with the whole audience.” Because we didn’t have the needle drops in there or anything. It was really good. I was like, it works. And then I feel like I wouldn’t have felt like I looked this big if I wouldn’t have had the soundtrack in the back. You have to hear the epicness. You have to.

Ryan Prows: Pepijn Caudron, our composer, I worked with him on Low Life as well, my first film, and he was in his bag on this one, man. Big time. It was great, obviously, just to see it big and with big sound and everything. I was able to, on that screening, step out of it a little bit and actually watch it fully. I was kind of like, “I’m into this. This is good. I’m wrapped up in this.” I know exactly what happens. I got caught up. I was like, “What’s going to happen?”

The Most Challenging Part Of Night Patrol

Mama’s Geeky: Was there something that you thought was going to be easier and then was the most challenging thing?

Ryan Prows: It really all locked in when – all the way up to production, like, weeks, days before – we were still casting, which happens with a lot of stuff. So it was like, I was like, “We’re not there yet. I don’t know.” And then when the cast locked in, I was like, “We had… I mean, the cast of eons, of centuries.” So when the cast locked in, I was like, “We’re going to be good.” And then it was just making sure we delivered and captured everything, got everything we needed.

Mama’s Geeky: Was there a scene you were like, “Oh, I can’t wait to film this,” when you got the script?

RJ Cyler: It was the… Can I spoil it? There are action-y things in this movie that I was like, “Oh, yeah, I want to look cool doing that.” They said I’m wearing what? “Okay, so no shirt, a little naked. All right, we need to work on our body again.” You know? It was a lot riding on this character because I could either be seen as the in-shape, out-of-shape kid. I could have had a belly. Yeah, if I would have had a belly in that Zulu outfit. I would’ve had to do something like get a belly ring to make it a little bit more exciting.

Working with Justin Long

Mama’s Geeky: What is it like working with Justin Long on Night Patrol?

RJ Cyler: Oh, yeah, Justin is crazy. And he’s very sweet when it comes to compliments. Sometimes I’ll be like, “Dang, that sucked,” and Justin’ll be like, “No, dude, that was really great.” “Justin, I ain’t getting none of the lines right.” “No one gets lines right. Who gets lines right?” I’m like, why? “It’s called improv.” Yeah. “Lean into it.” Yeah.

Ryan Prows: I will say, just as a Justin Long fan from way back then, he goes to places I have never seen before. He leaned into it and was there and ready to just go wild on it. So it was cool to just sit back and watch him. “Oh, wow, you’re taking it there, and you’re going to keep it there, and we’re there for a day and a half of shooting, and you’re still maintaining that. And then, oh, you’re back now at that level?” That, to me, was just exciting to watch him push himself in scary places. He was willing to do it and go there. He knew what the movie was as he signed on to it, and he was just ready to deliver on it.

Mama’s Geeky: Yeah, I feel like I’ve never seen him like that before. I’ve seen him do so many things, so many genres. I’m like, “I don’t think I’ve seen him like this before.”

Ryan Prows: Yeah, we were, like, in the early days of it talking about it, like, when I was like, “I got to talk you into the movie,” when we first met. He loved the script, but he was just like, “Yeah, I just don’t know.” I’m like, “That’s what’s so great about it! If I’m this guy, that sort of like tough former military character, those are the ones who are actually real and scary. The guys that you don’t think are those dudes.” They’re very sweet, and then you’re done. They have a grenade launcher. That’s why he smiles so big. No, he was a pleasure and a joy to watch him suffer for the entire shooting of the movie. Once it got bloody, it got real crazy.

Including Practical Effects In Night Patrol

Mama’s Geeky: When you’re using practical effects, I feel like you only have so many times you can do it because you have to reset everything. What is that like?

Ryan Prows: With low-budget indie filmmaking, we even had less time to reset. You’re like, “We have one time. Just stay in the blood. Get this one.” It was a big deal for us as we were designing it to do whatever we could to ground the world and make it feel, even with how fantastical and supernatural everything goes, to still feel real and like something that could kind of pop out and happen. So practical effects were such a big, a major part of that. We knew we wanted to lean into that, and then it was just designing around it. We had an incredible team that I worked with before. It was just picking our shots and picking our moments and being like, “We know we’re going to lead up to this, and this day we’re going to… this is our big gag.” And then we build around that. But in watching it with the audience, once it gets going, I was like, “Man, there are a lot of gags in this movie.” It does not let up. Once it switches, you’re like, “Oh.” I was like, “Wow, oh yeah, oh, we did that, too. Wow.”

Mama’s Geeky: RJ, what was it like filming that stuff?

RJ Cyler: It was crazy. I had one of the worst wedgies. Yeah, that was the worst super wedgie that I’ve ever had. I don’t think I’ve ever responded that way on wire before, and it was because of what I had on. It’s like that made it even way worse because it had to be hidden all the way. “You need to disappear it, R.J.” I’m like, “Ah.” And you’re what percent body fat? Literally. I’m like, “This would be the time when me being slim-thick actually messed me up. Damn it. I should have had a belly and a belly button ring.”

Ryan Prows: And then I do have to add Justin Martinez, our VFX guy, our wizard. The melding of those two, he went to places unseen.

RJ Cyler: I was like, “I didn’t know I had that much body,” and Ryan was like, “Dude, you were huge. You were so cut.” I thought you were saving my ego at the time. It’s insane. It was crazy. I was like, “Man, I would actually call me if I was in trouble.”

Night Patrol Is A Perfect Blend Of Horror, Action, & Crime

Mama’s Geeky: How would you describe Night Patrol to people without giving anything away?

Ryan Prows: I mean, I just feel like it is horror, action, crime, humor. It’s like got everything in it. It’s your gumbo. Yeah, like, with it being this really character-led horror film that has a lot of action and humor and heart to it and commentary, and you know, it’s kind of firing on a lot of cylinders.

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