As a satire of the climate crisis, Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up was obviously relevant. But the other turned out to be eerily timely.
Patel received the pilot script for Station Eleven – writer Patrick Somerville’s adaptation of Emily St. John Mandel’s novel about life before and after a pandemic - in 2019. “I just thought it was fantastic,” he says.
The film follows Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) as he travels to Bethlehem for an unconventional nativity performance, in a place which Banksy deems "the least Christmassy place on earth".
The "Alternativity" takes place in a carpark near Manger Square, Bethlehem, which is widely believed to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ.
Having never travelled to the Middle East before, and with extreme instructions from the mysterious artist whom he has never met, Boyle travels to Bethlehem to put on a festive show from scratch.
