CALIFORNIA SCHEMIN’ (2026)

James McAvoy’s directorial debut is a stranger-than-fiction tale of two rappers from Dundee who hit the big time after posing as Americans. It’s 2003, before artists could build a following online just by being themselves, and best mates Gavin “Brains” Bain (Séamus McLean Ross) and Billy “Silibil” Boyd (Samuel Bottomley) are finding that talent alone doesn’t make a superstar. Consequently, they create American alter egos, pretending to be far more successful and connected than they actually are.

Gavin and Billy dream of escaping Scottish call centres for stardom, but their goals feel a long way off. During an open call in London, they realise the industry’s snobbishness towards Scots will always hold them back. Labelled “the rapping Proclaimers” by two scouts, the pair realise a rebrand is required. Inspired by the way Billy adopts a posh English accent at work to sell broadband, the duo wonders if reinventing themselves as Californian rap duo Silibil N’ Brains will be their ticket to success.

The plan is wacky, as Billy’s girlfriend Mary (Lucy Halliday) frequently reminds them, but it’s enough to open doors. Soon, the duo is in London with new accents, a fabricated backstory, a fresh wardrobe, and a new sound. Impossibly quickly, it works. What begins as an attempt to expose the music industry’s cultural xenophobia and shallow obsession with image grows out of the boys’ control as they start to believe their own hype.

Bottomley and Ross are appealing leads, charting a compelling transition from small-town boys to pop stars. Gavin starts as a shy introvert whose internal monologue battles between insecurity and ambition, while the more boisterous Billy acts as the duo’s mouthpiece. As fame comes between them, the pair swap roles: Gavin unearths a vicious streak while Billy’s conscience forces him to confront the reality of their lie.

The leads are so convincing, especially on stage, that you could be fooled into thinking they’re the real thing. They’re comfortable on the mic—believably good, if not world-class—adding musical credibility to the story. Lucy Halliday is a star on the rise, following her turn in TV’s The Testaments by adding a necessary layer of grounding here. McAvoy himself brings star power as an aggressive music mogul bellowing in the back of cabs, and the film even makes James Corden palatable in his single scene as a larger-than-life executive.

However, California Schemin’ suffers from the same issue as Silibil N’ Brains: it intends to hold a mirror up to society but gets too distracted to do so effectively. The film never dives deeply into the darker themes at play, nor does it fully lean into the satire of this bizarre true story. Instead, it lingers in a narrative purgatory—it has too many parody characters to feel serious, but isn’t quite sharp enough to be true satire.

The film’s best elements lie in the subtext, which should have been pushed to the forefront. What it has to say about Britain’s class issues and the industry’s prejudice against working-class accents is important, but the exploration feels thin. As a Scottish actor who found fame playing a well-to-do Englishman in Shameless (2004-2014), McAvoy is clearly close to the subject, yet the movie rarely strays from the familiar beats of a musical biopic. The pair struggle, find fame, and then fall apart as ambition erodes their relationship. It’s a compelling enough story, but it doesn’t do enough to distinguish itself from the genre’s tropes.

The movie, much like the duo, drifts too often from the core hook: the conmen being conned by two Scottish lads. It’s at its best when picking apart an industry that prizes image over talent. There was much more to unpack here, but McAvoy seemingly prefers a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of success and the importance of authenticity.

What this film does achieve, where many biopics fail, is showing its stars in a harsh light. Neither Silibil nor Brains is depicted flatteringly; they easily forget their roots once fame calls. McAvoy and writers Elaine Gracie and Archie Thomson never gloss over the duo’s worst traits. Gavin comes across as borderline sociopathic in his grip on fame, while Billy’s treatment of women is far from pleasant. Based on Bain’s 2010 memoir, California Schemin’ is remarkably honest about how far two men will go to satisfy their ambition.

UK • USA | 2026 | 107 MINUTES | COLOUR | ENGLISH

Cast & Crew

director: James McAvoy.
writers: Elaine Gracie & Archie Thomson (based on the book ‘California Schemin’: How Two Lads from Scotland Conned the Music Industry’ by Gavin Bain).
starring: Séamus McLean Ross, Samuel Bottomley, Lucy Halliday, Rebekah Murrell & James McAvoy.