Film Notes

A struggling Scottish rap duo decide to overhaul their image by posing as two Americans from California. They manage to win a record deal with a label in London, but maintaining the fiction they have created is not easy.

"‘California Schemin’ Review: James McAvoy Directs a Whimsical Story Based on a True Lie. TIFF 2025: Samuel Bottomley and Séamus McLean Ross recreate a fake early aughts Scottish rap duo, taking a shot at fame and the music industry.

“One song. One chance. The right people are listening.”

You would be forgiven if you weren’t immediately familiar with the songs of the rap band known as Silibil N’ Brains. The duo never made it to the top of the charts, nor did they tour around the world proving they were the next Eminem. But for a short amount of time in the early 2000s, Gavin Bain and Billy Boyd were the hottest American rappers London and the whole of the United Kingdom had ever laid their ears on.

That is for one tiny bit of detail: Gavin and Billy actually hail from Dundee, Scotland.

“California Schemin’,’” which had its premiere Saturday at the Toronto International Film Festival with first-time director James McAvoy introducing the film, tells Gavin (Séamus McLean Ross) and Billy’s (Samuel Bottomley) unlikely story. From humble beginnings working at a cable internet sales company, the boys dreamed of being the world’s greatest rappers. Appearing on MTV with a hit record was the ultimate goal, but who would take two kids from a small town in Scotland seriously in the days of Eminem and D12?

If movies like “Straight Outta Compton” and “8 Mile” have taught us anything, it’s that the most successful rappers tend to have a story. Record labels often promote their artists’ unique backgrounds as a way to sell their music, frequently highlighting experiences of surviving police injustice or poverty at a young age, for example. But Billy and Gavin don’t have stories to tell, except for the one they made up.

After not being taken seriously in front of record label executives at an open audition for new rappers in London, Gavin and Billy come up with a brilliant idea to pretend to be Americans who are touring Europe with their distinctive rap stylings. Billy, with a bad blonde dye job, now fronting as “Silibil,” and Gavin as “Brains,” the two devise fake American accents based on famous American-made movies and movie quotes, reciting them to one another ad nauseam. After they con their way onto a London club stage, they present themselves as Silibil N’ Brains, an American rap duo that no one has ever heard of.

They wow the crowd, including a record label assistant who happens to be in attendance at the club that night. Her comments that the boys are “weird, but it works” send sounds of joy through their heads as their life seems about to change. Before they know it, Silibil N’ Brains are the talk of London, signing a low-level record deal with Neotone’s executive (McAvoy) and preparing for their first album.

As the lies begin to grow exponentially along with Gavin’s reluctance to give up their new lifestyle, small amount of fame, and drugs, Billy becomes despondent. Their original plan to expose the music industry for its prejudice against small-town Scottish folks like themselves is thwarted by Gavin, who can’t let go of their newfound success. Even if it means breaking up their friendship, breaking up Billy and his girlfriend, or even breaking up the band…Gavin is all in.

But when will the world finally know the truth about who these boys really are?

“California Schemin’” gets dark about halfway through Gavin and Billy’s journey to the top, even as the duo reaches heights unseen by young artists of their generation. What starts as a comedy film based on a true story evolves into a tragic drama of broken brotherhood, convoluted business dealings, and tarnished reputations. As the real-life story goes, Silibil N’ Brains are, in fact, found out to be the deceivers they’ve always been, but watching all of the elements of their lies unfold is what makes this movie engrossing.

James McAvoy has a future in directing if the “X-Men” star wants it, clearly defined by a story from his native Scotland that feels personal and entertaining. But the real MVP of “California Schemin’” is actor Séamus McLean Ross, who takes Gavin from an anxious young man with talent to a drug-infused rapper desperately in need of some rehabilitation. The chemistry between McLean Ross and Bottomley is electric, led by McLean Ross’s determination to make Gavin a fully realized character.

Any premise that begins with a lie is destined to come crashing down at a given time. But McLean Ross and Bottomley’s energy and charisma on screen make “California Schemin’” and the true story behind the movie’s magic seem plausible. Director McAvoy is skilled at honing in on the details, never wavering in his ambition to tell a small tale about friendship, its pitfalls, and the lies that result in hurting others"

Matthew Creith, THEWRAP, September 7, 2025 

'California Schemin' Review: James McAvoy Hits All the Right Notes With a Funny, Soulful Directorial Debut | TIFF 2025.

"There are some true stories so absurd, they’re practically begging for a movie. However, when they do make it to the screen, they don't stand out for their outrageous punchline, but rather what they expose, as seen with James McAvoy’s directorial debut, California Schemin’. In the early 2000s, Scottish rappers Gavin Bain and Billy Boyd couldn’t get a respectable ear from the British music industry and were laughed out of rooms, labeled the “rapping Proclaimers.” But they pulled an identity heist while reinventing themselves as Californian MCs, “Silibil N’ Brains” and hustling their way into record deals, MTV slots, and even an opening gig for D12. That is, until it all caught up with them.

While the saga has been told in Bain’s memoir, Straight Outta Scotland, and the documentary The Great Hip Hop Hoax, McAvoy reclaims the story for a new audience with Samuel Bottomley (as Billy) and Séamus McLean Ross (as Gavin) in the lead roles. Bringing a similarly sharp empathy he’s long shown as an actor, McAvoy shapes his film with energy and bite rather than just reverence for the tale. Produced like a cultural parable about prejudice, performance, and what it costs to be heard, the rise-and-fall arc might feel familiar, but McAvoy grounds California Schemin’ in a specifically Scottish context.

Echoing the country’s thornier identity tales like Trainspotting (the “it’s shite being Scottish” sentiment is hard to miss) and the wry humanism of Bill Forsyth’s works, McAvoy’s debut moulds the underdog crowd-pleaser tale into something richer, reminding us that the most entertaining cons often carry the sharpest truths.

On the surface, California Schemin’ plays like a classic hustle tale. However, there is a great deal of weight and nuance to the journey that Gavin and Billy find themselves in. As just two Dundee kids with immense talent but no traction, the pair are grinding through boring telemarketing shifts with Billy’s girlfriend, Mary (Lucy Halliday), while dreaming of hip-hop glory. Their big break never comes because, sadly, every gatekeeper hears their accents as a joke. A humiliating audition in London drives this unjust point home for the duo as they’re not judged for their skill, but laughed at for daring to rap in their Scottish voices.

With the sneers cutting deep, the film underscores how archaic British prejudices still frame Scots as comical and uncivil. California Schemin’ makes it clear that the rejection the boys experience isn’t just artistic, but borders on existential. It’s a sobering reminder of long-standing discrimination in the cultural establishment, where Scottish (and Irish) voices have been dismissed as less than legitimate. It’s at this point that the boys decide to reinvent themselves as Silibil N’ Brains, a swaggering duo from (somewhere in) California. Oddly enough, they find doors previously bolted shut now swinging open. McAvoy and his co-writers, Archie Thomson and Elaine Gracie, lean into the absurdity through fun, playful montages of Gavin and Billy spitting Jerry Maguire lines until “show me the money!” sounds like a mantra.

Though it’s played for audience laughs, the comedy edges toward irony cleverly. To be taken seriously, these boys must tragically erase themselves. From disastrous encounters with skeptical executives played by James Corden to the surreal high of opening for “long-time friends” D12, the movie delights in the giddy momentum of their scheme, while keeping the reality of their situation squarely in view. It’s also in those moments where the facts get quite dark for the pair, testing their friendship. McAvoy works to build the tension not around whether they’ll be caught, but more so around how long they can survive living behind a mask.

‘California Schemin’ Is an Impressive Debut From McAvoy

McAvoy never once gives the impression that he’s trying to reinvent the music biopic or hustle drama, and that’s exactly why California Schemin’ works so well. Instead of going after flashy tricks or overdirecting his cast and crew, he keeps his focus on the story’s heart, which is Gavin and Billy, resulting in a film that is as grounded as it is personal. For his directorial debut to be a tale about ambition, performance, and identity, McAvoy sidesteps the usual Scottish clichés by digging his heels into an impressive first feature about working-class grit while reaching for something larger.

That said, the film isn’t flawless. Visually, McAvoy leans on some wide shots that occasionally feel cluttered with too much noise around their subjects, while others are quite clean and clear. The ending ties things up a bit more neatly with a Hollywood bow than real life did — especially as Gavin was still performing on a smaller scale and revealed the hoax years later. But McAvoy’s sense of tone as a director is steady and sharp, with smart pacing. The first half of the film bounces between cheeky energy, montages, and comical set pieces before sliding into dark paranoia, with cracks starting to emerge.

That type of tonal shift is hard to manage in a debut, but McAvoy pulls it off by never losing sight of his characters, structuring the film as a character study in some ways. He knows when to step back and let Ross and Bottomley carry the emotional weight, and when to punch up the absurdity, so the bigger themes don’t get too heavy. McAvoy never makes a joke out of the real-life young men; instead, he treats their story with empathy, showing that while the accents were fake, their music and ambition were always real.

For relatively new faces on this side of the pond, Ross and Bottomley deliver some absolutely compelling and charismatic performances that keep the film from ever feeling like a gimmick. Ross’s Gavin starts as almost invisible — hunched shoulders, mumbled verses, and almost timid in his interactions with bullies. But once he gains confidence from their hoax, he becomes a volatile presence. It’s absorbing yet unsettling, especially as he falls into a drug-fueled haze. But it’s this electrifying pivot that keeps you engaged. Meanwhile, Bottomley brings a heartfelt, grounded contrast in Billy. As the conscience of the duo, his quiet warmth and steadiness make that eventual fracture all the more devastating. As a tag team, the pair’s chemistry is gripping as they sell us their fun euphoric rise and their friendship’s inevitable doom.

The supporting cast sharpens the story’s emotional edges, like Halliday as the endearing Mary. She never once plays Billy’s girlfriend as a trope. She’s quietly commanding while delivering some of the film’s more heartfelt beats. The boys’ manager, Tessa, played by Rebekah Murrell, is equally captivating as she carefully threads skepticism with fascination toward the “Californian” rappers.

And then there’s McAvoy, who slides into the role of a Scottish label head with wry energy. It’s a bit of meta-casting that’s as playful as it is pointed, as the actor-director embodies the very machine he’s critiquing. He’s slyly charismatic in the role, but also greasy enough to underline the idea that prejudice doesn’t always come from the outside — sometimes it looks like your own reflection. Best of all, his cameo never overshadows the leads, but instead frames the film with an all-knowing, sort of creative wink that ties the whole thing together.

As a debut, California Schemin’ is confident, entertaining, and deeply personal. McAvoy creates a story of ambition, prejudice, and performance that gives Scotland’s underdog spirit its due. It isn’t a flawless directorial debut and stumbles in places, but it plays like an anthem for outsiders with a dream. And thankfully, in McAvoy’s hands, it closes on the right note that feels like a hit.

 Tania Hussain, COLLIDER, Sep 15, 2025