For James McAvoy’s directorial debut he’s tapped a true story, or true lie the opening titles aptly note, of rappers Silibil N’ Brains. From the small Scottish town of Dundee circa 2003, Gavin Bain (Séamus McLean Ross) aka Brains and Billy Boyd (Samuel Bottomley) aka Silibil, have dreams of being the next big things in rap. But after a disasterous audition where they are practically laughed off stage and dubbed “The Rapping Proclaimers” by talent scouts, Gavin hatches a devious plan. The pair pretend to be from Southern California, under the pretense that they will ‘expose the hypocracy’ of the record industry when they “come out” as Scottish in front of a MTV audience. But soon the parties, drugs and other trappings of fame engulf Gavin and he doesnt want to follow through with the plan.
An insane true story, that’s also the subject of the 2013 documentary The Great Hip Hop Hoax by Jeanie Finlay, California Schemin’ follows the real story pretty closely, though Billy’s girlfriend Mary (Lucy Halliday) gets a much bigger role. Ross is decent as Bain, though he goes a little too manic as the lies compound. But, despite being the more supporting role of the two leads, this film is really all on Bottomley’s insanely accurate turn as Billy.
McAvoy also involves himself in the shenanigans as a record executive, and Rebekah Murrell is fantastic as the fictional Tessa, an amalgam of all the interns and junior execs Silibil N’s Brains’ lies burned along the way.
- Rated: Unrated
- Genre: Based on a True Story, Biopic, Drama, Music
- Release Date: 9/6/2025
- Directed by: James McAvoy
- Starring: James Cordon, James McAvoy, Lucy Halliday, Rebekah Murrell, Samuel Bottomley, Séamus McLean Ross
- Produced by: Danny Page, Gavin Bain, James McAvoy, Michael Mendelsohn, Paul Aniello, Simon Kay
- Written by: Archie Thomson, Elaine Gracie, Gavin Bain
- Studio: Bankside Films, Homefront Productions, Patriot Pictures
