I Came By — release date, cast, plot, trailer, interviews, first looks and all about the thriller (2024)

New Netflix thriller I Came By will be delivering huge frights and nasty shocks when launches in both cinemas and on the streaming service in August 2022

With George Mackay, Hugh Bonneville, Percelle Ascott and Kelly Macdonald starring, the movie follows the dangerous game being played out by a young graffiti artist who breaks into the homes of the wealthy then finds something horrendous and sinister that turns his life into a nightmare.

So here's everything you need to know about I Came By on Netflix...

I Came By release date

I Came By will be released worldwide on Netflix from August 31 2022. The movie was previously available in select UK cinemas from August 19 2022. The film is 109 minutes long.

Is there an I Came By trailer?

Yes an official trailer for I Came By has been released by Netflix and the movie does look exceptionally creepy, as Hugh Bonneville's character (a judge) opens his cellar door! Do take a look at the horror that plays out in the trailer below...

I Came By plot

In I Came By, George Mackay plays a rebellious young British graffiti artist Toby — think along the lines of a fictional Banksy — who gains notoriety by breaking into the homes of the very wealthy to spray his illegal artistic mural that spells out 'I Came By' over the plush walls.

Wearing a hoodie and being totally anonymous of course, he becomes a bit of a folk hero but he's also wanted by the law, and the rich and powerful people whose homes he vandalises. No one knows his identity except his fellow rebel graffiti artist Jay (Percelle Ascott) who joins Toby in regularly targetting wealthy homes. Jay however starts to have second thoughts about what they are doing, and when his girlfriend tells him she's pregnant, Jay pulls back from their exploits, leaving Toby to continue the campaign solo.

It all goes horribly wrong with Toby's first job on his own when he breaks into the home of renowned former High Court judge Sir Hector Blake (Hugh Bonneville) he discovers a shocking secret that eventually puts him in grave danger.

I Came By cast — George MacKay on playing Toby

George MacKay plays the graffiti artist Toby at the heart of the story. George started his career playing Curly in the 2003 movie Peter Pan. He’s since played Private Douglas in the BBC1 miniseries Birdsong and Tommo Peaceful in the film Private Peaceful. George has also starred in BBC1 drama Outcast, plus the movies Pride, Sunshine on Leith and Munich: the Edge of War. He played Ned Kelly in 2019 movie True History of The Kelly Gang and the Oscar-winning World War One film 1917.

George told us more about playing Toby in I Came By...

How would you describe Toby. He has this Robin Hood element but he’s also very angry…
George reveals: "He’a railing against the higher powers that he ultimately disagrees with. And he feels broken by some stuff that has happened in his family and it has reverberated out to this need to take down the ruling class. Anyone that controls him, he vows to better and put his mark on. He’s become very single-minded in that and that has become his work. He’s a very singleminded individual which on one hand gives him a lot of integrity and was fun to play but there’s also a disregard for the fallout from that behaviour which makes him quite difficult to be around as well."

Why does Toby think there is something evil about Hector?
"I think that is a chance happening. Toby is just looking for something first time around and almost going though with a fine tooth comb to find a problem. And he does find legitimate problems with the ivory in the house and t hings like that. This guy is not who he says he is. But at that point in the story there is seemingly more good than not good. So I think that is Toby looking for a problem. And it turns out he’s not far wrong!"

Hugh Bonneville on playing Sir Hector Blake

Hugh is playing High Court judge Sir Hector Blake (see the main first look picture above), who is one of the wealthy homeowners who is a target of graffiti artist Toby. Hugh starred in the 1999 movie Notting Hill and then went on to become a household name playing the Earl of Grantham in Downton Abbey. He also played Ian Fletcher in the series Twenty Twelve and W1A. Last year Hugh took on the role of Roald Dahl in the film To Olivia and will be appearing in the upcoming Banking on Mr Toad. He currently plays Henry Brown in the Paddington movies.Here Hugh reveals his take on I Came By and Sir Hector...

Would you say the role is against type and is that what attracted you to it ?
Hugh says: "It’s not quite the same territory as Downton Abbey or Paddington! It was a nice diversion for me, let’s put it that way."

Saying something about racism, elite, wealth. People like your character having everything, bring able to get away with stuff.
"There are underlying themes that the director Babak Anvari is asking questions about certainly. The fact the that establishment is so confident in itself that it can get away with murder sometimes. And you have this other level of society - disaffected youth who want to make a statement but they don’t quite know what to follow it up with.They can express their disaffection, they can express theirs disquiet and their envy and their rage at the establishment but they don’t have access to build on that. They don’t have the equipment, they don’t know that to replace it with. It’s just a general protest and that’s one of the points being made. How do you bridge that gap. How do you form a better society when the ruling elite hold all the power and all the levers?"

Is Sir Hector actually good? He has this image of helping asylum seekers.
"There’s no question that he has been a great force of good. He had been a champion of human rights and the underdog and the disaffected and he’s celebrated and presumably his knighthood came about because of his good works. So why would you want to tag the wall of someone who has done so much good for society?!"

Is it fun playing a character like that? Who appears one way but has all these layers and we see a different side come out.
"Yes. We are surrounded by people who are upright figures of the establishment but actually realise that they have many other characteristics yet to be revealed."

How important is that backstory of his childhood trauma? Does that explain everything?
"I don’t think it explains everything no. I have no doubt that his back story has made him who he is and why to a degree he is the way he is.But that doesn’t explain everything."

Would you call I Came By horror or thriller or special commentary?
"I don’t know. It almost defies genre. Babak is a fresh voice with an incredibly talented use of the genre. I don’t think he’s inventing a new genre but he’s building on genres, noir, thriller, psychological drama and social commentary all wrapped into one as an entertaining film."

How important is London in the film as a character?
"That is one of the things I loved about it. It felt very authentic in terms of the different stratas of society, the different areas of urban life come together in a completely credible mix. You see from the grandest establishment characters’ backgrounds - the London club, the nice home and then you go to the housing estate and the rougher side of society and the boys who want to express their dissatisfaction with their lot rubbing up against the leaders of the police and the judiciary all in a credible universe but with this noirish thriller element. I think that is a real accomplishment n to have achieved that in one film."

Percelle Ascot on playing Jay

Percelle Ascott plays Toby's graffiti artist pal Jay who has a big role to play in uncovering the mystery of Hector's cellar. Percelle has previously starred in Tin Star, The Innocents and Doctor Who.

Percelle says: "Jay is making a lot of choices. He's fiercely loyal but that’s what gets him into a lot of trouble. He's trying to make everyone happy and in doing so he kind of lets everyone down. It was really nice to play a character with so much conflict and as the stakes were growing and intensifying and playing with that emotion and slightly imploding. It was really challenging and something I was excited to play.

"I Came By deals with classism and racism. Hopefully, the film will have people on the edge of their seats but there’s also a substance to it — a message."

Kelly MacDonald as Liz

Kelly MacDonald is also starring in I Came By (see her first look picture below) as Toby's single mum Liz Nealing. Kelly’s first role was in the iconic 1996 movie Trainspotting. She has also starred in Gosford Park, Nanny McPhee and No Country for Old Men. Kelly played Helena Ravenclaw in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and voiced the role of Merida in the Disney animation Brave. She recently starred in BBC1 crime drama The Victim, played Sarah in the BBC1 series Giri/Haji and DCI Jo Davidson in Line of Duty.

Who else is starring in I Came By?

Other stars in I Came By include Paddy Wallace as CID officer Jeff, Micky McGregor as Carlo Rubio, Kitty Lovett as Eliza, plus Varada Sethu, Gabriel Bissett-Smith, Edward Wolstenhome and Amerjit Deu.

What else do we know about I Came By?

I Came By on Netflix is directed by Babak Anvari(Under The Shadow, Wounds) who also co-wrote the movie with Namsi Khan. It's produced by Lucan Toh. Directed by BAFTA winner Babak Anvari (Under The Shadow) This is a British film commissioned by Netflix's new Director Of UK Features Fiona Lamptey.

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