John Boyega Will Take On Right Wing Fanatics In Gavin Hood’s ‘The Test’

The timing on this seems right. While John Boyega hasn’t done any new films this year, he’s been everywhere speaking out on a host of issues. Of course, his dissatisfaction with Star Wars has received a lot of headlines, but the most attention he’s received has been for his activism in support of Black Lives Matter. And that makes his upcoming film The Test, in which he takes on right wing extremists, exactly the right thing for him to do next.

According to Deadline, Boyega will star in political thriller The Test, from writer/director Gavin Hood. Also in the cast is Payman Maadi, an actor probably best-known for his films with Asghar Farhadi, About Elly and A Separation.  Hood is an actor-turned-filmmaker who broke out behind the camera with his Oscar-winning film Tsotsi. He has since gone on to direct X-Men: Origins Wolverine, Ender’s Game, and Official Secrets.

Based on the novella by Sylvain Neuvel, The Test follows “a soft-spoken immigrant (Maadi) taking a citizen evaluation test, and a brilliant young behavioral psychologist (Boyega) supervising “the test” confront a terrorist group lead by a far-right fanatic.”

Boyega will be seen later this year in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe anthology, and has films Borderland and They Cloned Tyrone coming up. The Test should be the next project for him, as it’s being fast-tracked because the simple two-hander easily works within COVID-19 restrictions.

Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.