Sharp Instinct

Sharp Instinct is a 2023 Scottish action-comedy crime film written, directed, produced and edited by Callum McLelland (in his directorial debut). Starring Joe Scott, Paul Burke, Mark Stinson, John Seggie, Chris Reynolds and Billy Burke, the film centres on a team of police officers and detectives investigating a series of murders in a Scottish town.

### Box Office

£645

The film drew inspiration from Hot Fuzz, and more grounded police procedural shows, such as Taggart. The surreal comedy style was originally an inspiration for the film, but as the scripts drafts went on, this was ultimately phased out.

## Plot

DI Patrick Knightley, a detective in the Greenock Police Force, is assigned to a murder case. The detective, whom usually works alone, is told that he will be working the case with DS Iain Wainwright, a detective who he does not see eye to eye with. He argues with the Chief that he can do the case by himself, but is ultimately forced to work with Wainwright.

Wainwright and Knightley arrive at the house where the murder has been reported to have happened. They argue in the car about who will go in, and Knightley eventually goes in solo. He gets into the house to find the dead body of a woman named Elizabeth Martin, and the killer. He attempts to arrest the man, but he dodges Knightley's gun, and tries to stab Knightley. At the last moment, Wainwright bursts through the door, and hits the killer over the back of the head with his gun, supposedly knocking him out cold. Knightley thanks Wainwright for saving his life. They go into the kitchen for a smoke and a tea. Whilst this is happening, the killer (who was still conscious) escapes. They walk back into the living room to find him having had escaped.

Back at the station, Wainwright is forced to tell the Chief what has happened. The Chief is extremely angry and demands that he [Wainwright] and Knightley go and find this man, and bring him back to the station. Knightley and Wainwright alert the other police officers of the situation.

Knightley and Wainwright go back to the scene of the crime, where Forensics is finding out what happened. He discovers that the victim was Elizabeth Martin. She had no prior convictions, and had nothing incriminating in the house. Knightley gets a phone call from PC Banes, and is alerted that a murder has taken place in a park. He and Wainwright then get in the car and drive to the park, and when they arrive moments later, the killer is there. They attempt to arrest him, but he flees the scene. The victim is identified as Eric Burke, a 42-year old man with a wife and 2 children. Once seeing a photo of the family, Wainwright suddenly leaves. A puzzled Knightley shouts on him to come back, but he still leaves. Knightley goes after him.

At the station, Knightley meets up with Wainwright. He asks Wainwright what happened and why did he leave. Wainwright explains that his father had been murdered in similar circumstances some 19 years prior. Wainwright suspects that the same person is responsible for all the deaths. Knightley understands why he did what he did. A witness of the murder of Eric Burke arrives at the station, and Knightley and Wainwright go interview her. The woman, Mary Hill, whom is from Maryhill in Glasgow, explains how Eric Burke had been sitting with his wife. His wife left, and then the killer came into the park and murdered Eric Burke. She tells them that this is all she knows, and leaves.

Wainwright goes into a shop and asks for their CCTV to help with their investigation. Knightley goes to the house of Mrs. Gibson to ask about what she knows of the case, and Wainwright goes to the house of Mrs. Johnson to ask what she knows of the case. Later on at the station, they are working on their computers. The Chief comes into the office and asks for an update on the case. They inform him of what has happened so far. He leaves and they go back to their work. A phone call comes in from Mary Hill. She tells the officers that the killer they are looking for is lurking outside the police station. They, without so much as hanging up they phone, rush downstairs to try and catch him. He, however, escapes.

At Knightley's house later that evening, Wainwright arrives to see Knightley. Knightley is sitting watching Taggart. Before long, the Killer appears in Knightley's back garden. They apprehend him, and take him back to the station. They find out his name is Malcolm Lyons, and that he is a software engineer for the company MicroTech (and although not stated in the film, MicroTech was founded by Laurence Banes, the brother of PC Jon Banes), and they charge him for the murders Elizabeth Martin, Eric Burke and David Wainwright. Lyons annoys Wainwright by making a remark about his father, and Wainwright begins to attack Lyons. Knightley shouts on Gallagher to come and help, but he isn't there, so Banes comes. Knightley pulls Wainwright outside and Banes sits Lyons down. Banes goes outside of the questioning room. Lyons quickly makes an escape through the tiles in the roof, and by the time Wainwright, Banes and Knightley get back into the room, he is gone.

The Chief is in his bed, reading. Knightley phones him, and alerts him that Lyons has escaped custody. He quickly comes into the office, and finds Knightley and Wainwright just sitting in the office. He throws them out, and demands they go search for Lyons. They get ready to go and search for him, but sit in the car and eat a doughnut first. Knightley reads his book, and Wainwright puts a bet on. However, they fall asleep. In the morning, the Chief finds them in the car, still sleeping.

Later that day, at around 17:40pm, Wainwright, Knightley, Gallagher, and Banes are searching Malcolm Lyons house. They don't find anything in his house belonging to the victims.

## Cast

**Joe Scott** *as* Malcolm Lyons

**Paul Burke** *as* Patrick Knightley

**Mark Stinson** *as* Iain Wainwright

**John Seggie** *as* The Chief

**Chris Reynolds** *as* Terry Gallagher

**Billy Burke** *as* Jon Banes

**Debbie McLelland** *as* Techman

**Nicky McFarlane** *as* Forensics

**Alyson McFarlane** *as* Mary Hill

**Kim Scott** *as* Shopkeeper

**Jackie Seggie** *as* The Chief's Wife

**Liz Tannock** *as* Corpse #1

**Kerr Melrose** *as* Corpse #2

**Jane Calder** *as* Mrs. Gibson

**Lorna Jamieson** *as* Mrs. Johnson

*additionally,* **Scott McLelland, Lorna Stinson, Lynsey Melrose and Clare Griffin** played extras in the pub.

## Production

The film was filmed over a period of 9 months, beginning on June 23rd 2022 and ending on March 12th 2023. The film was usually shot on Sundays. The film began shooting with an unfinished script, and the script was only finished 10 days before the second shooting day. It was shot on one camera, a Panasonic Lumix FZ82. The film was edited in Adobe Premiere Elements 2022. The film was originally set to be edited in ClipChamp, but it proved unsuitable to edit the entire film in. The film was shot entirely on-location, and locations were sourced by friends of the crew. The film was shot in Greenock, Gourock, Port Glasgow and Bishopton, although it was mainly shot in Greenock. Joe Scott, who played Malcolm Lyons, would often improvise lines, leading to many of his comedic scenes, as the character was originally darker.

## Release

The film premiered on Thursday, 23rd of March 2023. The film premiered at the Waterfront Cinema, Greenock. The entire cast and crew were in attendance with invited guest being present too. The premiere was a charity event for Down Syndrome Scotland, and the night raised over £645 for the charity.

The film was released on DVD on Monday, 27th of March. The profit from the DVD sales went back into the budget of the next film to be produced by TimeLine Films/Clydeside Studios. The DVD was available for pre-order for those who attended the premiere before it was available for order the following day.

## DVD

The DVD, was released on 27th March 2023 in Region 2. It was released in Regions 1 and 4 the following week. The Regions 2 & 4 presented the film in it's original framerate as it was shot in 25fps.

It contained the bonus features:

- Cast Interviews

- Bloopers Reel/Paul Burke camera reel

- Trailers

## Sequel

A sequel, Sharp Instinct: Volume II, is in development. The script was completed in June 2023, and is set to begin shooting in the following months. The release date is yet to be confirmed.