Concrete Cowboy, from newcomer Ricky Staub, is a father-and-son drama set in “urban Philadelphia,” where a true community of black cowboys, who cares for animals, lives. Also in the cast is the young promise of Stranger Things as Caleb McLaughlin

Concrete cowboy It begins with the most absurd way a story like this can begin: by looking out the window. As fanciful as it may sound, like all of the most wonderful ideas, it is actually based on real facts. It was like this Director Ricky Staub He saw an African American cowboy paddling around on horseback, quietly, on a stroll in the city center by a rapping cart. And if anyone was surprised, they smelled a story and began an investigation.

Find out like this Fletcher Street Stables, A non-profit organization dedicated to urban mountaineering for at least 100 years. There he spoke for days and days with all the people involved, men and women who knew animal care, went to their barbecues, learned to ride himself, and even helped clean the stables – whatever. Enter the community And see if there is room for a movie about the cowboys in town, the people of the culture that has always been associated with whites. But the real idea only came when he met Ricky Staub a novel Gregg Neary Cowboy Ghetto, So right Town Barn Philadelphia. The book had the story. He – a newcomer – was thinking about the movie (landscapes with cowboys riding at sunset in the city rather than in the wilds) and the desire to immerse themselves in an old cinematic tradition with something strange, modern and (unbelievable) real.

Staub was so attached to being able to make a solid and pure movie that his first idea, the original, was to use real urban cowboys, then Non-specialistsAs actors. It is not difficult to believe that with these buildings he struggled to find someone to fund the project. At least until then Lee DanielsAnd the manufacturer and Director preciousAn African American born and raised in Philadelphia next door to those stables, he did not see potential in what is ultimately an African American story. With him the script begins to transform, moves from hand to hand, actor to actor, and the idea of ​​letting a real cowboy translate it no longer makes sense. The point is that Staub had it as a reference The passengerThe American movie that he revealed to the world Chloe Chow (The director this year was nominated for multiple Oscars for Bedouin And Marvel chose it for Eternals), Also talked to horses, but meticulously photographed with real people. Everything collapsed when it arrived Idris Elba (Luther)Excited about text and eager to play someone Two heroes, father. The reason for his enthusiasm is simple.

“There aren’t enough different and original stories about parenting, forget it. If it comes to African Americans, the perspective is always the same. This movie is an opportunity to change it.”: comment Written by Idris Elba says everything about the opportunity he saw, In Brims About itself, then in order Concrete cowboy. Also because if the traditions of the cowboys in America and the story of men on horseback are so important and always important, then there is almost no trace. African American characters on horseback. Elba was so determined that he took Benadryl all the way to filming since then Allergy to animal hair.

Next to him in the scene there Caleb McLaughlin – He is best known for being among the heroes Weird things -, equally keen to make the leap from television to the big screen, from kid’s roles to boys’ roles (and it’s not as if the cinema is filled with parts for young African Americans, not even American ones). The plot traditional: Cole (McLaughlin), who was raised only by his mother, was sent to live with his father (specifically an urban cowboy) after he was Expelled from school. There he finds discipline and values ​​that no one had been able to teach him before.