Sympathy for the Devil is a 2023 American psychological thriller film directed by Yuval Adler and written by Luke Paradise. It stars Nicolas Cage as The Passenger and Joel Kinnaman as The Driver.

The film had its world premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival on July 22, 2023, before its theatrical release on July 28, by RLJE Films.

Plot
After being forced to drive a mysterious passenger at gunpoint, a man finds himself in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse where it becomes clear that not everything is as it seems.

Cast

 Nicolas Cage as The Passenger
 Joel Kinnaman as The Driver
 Alexis Zollicoffer as the Waitress
 Cameron Lee Price as the Cop
 Oliver McCallum as the Boy
 Burns Burns as the Owner
 Rich Hopkins as the Trucker 
 Nancy Good as Grandma
 Kaiwi Lyman as Colleague

Production
Principal photography began in Las Vegas in July 2022.  Approximately half the film was shot at a Las Vegas-based virtual studio owned by Vū Technologies.  Sympathy for the Devil was the first feature film in Nevada history to be shot on an LED sound stage.

Release
In September 2022, the film was presented to buyers at TIFF.  In March 2023, RLJE Films acquired the North America, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand distribution rights. The film had its world premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival on July 22, 2023 and was released in theaters on July 28, 2023.  It will be released by Signature Entertainment in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Reception
 

Bobby LePire from Film Threat wrote, "Cage and Kinnaman work well together, with the former being gloriously over-the-top and the latter keeping things grounded in a form of reality. All in all, this thriller works from beginning to end". The San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle gave a positive review saying, "It takes a while for it all to come into focus, but one thing is clear: This very well-made thriller doesn't have only one mystery man in it. It has two".

Greg Archer from Movieweb praised Cage's performance saying "It’s a tour du force performance for the books." Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter noted as "[Nicolas] Cage chews up every scene he's in and seems to be having a blast — he's always over-the-top and never boring to watch, in a film that delivers the goods for those who like him best when he's just about lost his mind".

References

External links
 
 

2023 crime thriller films
2023 thriller films
2023 films
American crime thriller films
2020s English-language films
2020s American films
Films shot in the Las Vegas Valley
RLJE Films