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Bradley Banton’s debut feature, More Life, premiered at the 2025 BFI London Film Festival with a striking premise: turning the transitory energy of Instagram livestreams into a cinematic experience. Shot vertically and alive with digital immediacy, the film captures an authentic, intimate look at youth and screen obsession today.
A Vision Steeped in Digital Culture
Bradley Banton doesn’t just flirt with digital culture—he dives right in. More Life draws its inspiration directly from the chaos and charisma of livestreaming platforms, where performance and authenticity often blur. The idea came to him while watching a Nicki Minaj livestream. It’s a world where emotions are heightened, identities curated in real time, and every scroll holds a new narrative. That energy pulses at the heart of the film.
Though originally planned to be set in London, the story eventually found its place in Copenhagen—a personal choice for Banton, who called it his favorite city to livestream from. That change isn’t just geographical. It adds a layer of atmospheric calm that contrasts beautifully with the digital frenzy captured onscreen, giving the film both texture and rhythm.
Facing a tight shooting schedule of just four hours, the team explored doing the film in a single continuous take, à la Boiling Point or Victoria. But reality struck, and instead of forcing the format, they embraced the limitations. The final result is a seamless blend of takes connected through deliberate glitches, mimicking the live-but-fragile feel of smartphone streaming. It’s clever, and it works. To read Charlize Theron and Taron Egerton face off in 2026’s Apex trailer
A Vertical Frame, A Fresh Perspective
Perhaps the most visually striking aspect of More Life is its decision to go vertical. Many filmmakers experiment with aspect ratios, but going full smartphone frame takes guts. It’s not just a gimmick; it’s part of the DNA of the film. We aren’t just watching characters—we’re holding them in our hands, feeling as if we just swiped onto their story mid-broadcast. It forces an intimacy that widescreen rarely achieves.
That immediacy is what makes More Life so sharply observant. It’s less about the dangers of tech, more about the nuances of living through it. And while it might upset some purists, the format feels true to the story. There’s something deeply resonant in seeing a film speak fluently in the language of its generation.
An Engaging Cast and an Authentic Pulse
The film stars Tuwaine Barrett (Hard Truths), Dipo Ola, and Jordan Peters, all of whom manage to bring depth to characters that could easily have slipped into digital caricatures. From the few screenings mentioned, the response has been real and sincere—perhaps the most telling anecdote came from Barrett himself. After a premiere screening, he noted one young viewer didn’t check his phone once throughout the film. That silence from a generation glued to screens? That’s saying something.
Barrett, with playful energy, added that they’d love to make more films like this “if we get the money,” while Banton joked about the draw of travelling to shoot the next one. Their chemistry and enthusiasm are part of what makes this story compelling, both onscreen and off.
Quick facts on More Life: To read Ranking Shyamalan’s Hits: Which Film Defines His Legacy?
- Premiered at the 2025 BFI London Film Festival, receiving strong audience engagement
- Inspired by a Nicki Minaj Instagram livestream
- Originally set in London but shot in Copenhagen
- Initially considered a single-take approach but opted for glitch transitions between scenes
- Presented entirely in a vertical format
- Produced by Michael Fassbender’s company, DMC Film
Looking Forward
More Life isn’t just a film—it’s a sign of where storytelling might be headed. It borrows the cadence of livestreams, the aesthetics of mobile screens, and places them in a structured cinematic frame. As someone who’s watched both cinema and social media evolve since the 90s, I found this debut incredibly refreshing. There’s still so much unexplored terrain between our phones and the big screen, and Banton seems eager to map it.
I’d be curious to see what a follow-up would look like, now with experience and maybe—fingers crossed—a slightly bigger budget. If More Life is any indication, Banton has a real instinct for the emotional detail buried in our chaotic digital lives. And I’ll be watching.
