The Bystanders

(Director: Gabriel Foster Prior; UK, 94mins)

Pete (Scott Haran) is an inconspicuous office dullard until he is recruited to become a ‘Bystander’ - a kind of empowered guardian angel, tasked with watching over, and invisibly helping, a 'Subject'. His mentor Frank (Seann Walsh) proposes that they swap Subjects, leaving Pete with feckless loser Luke (Andi Jashy). Can Pete transform Luke and win Bystander of the Year, or will misanthropic Frank undermine Pete's natural Bystander instincts? The feature directing debut of Gabriel Foster Prior melds crackling British character comedy and an irreverent, Beetlejuice-like vision of The Great Beyond to deliver a laugh-out-loud workplace fantasy.

Australian Premiere