The Night Agent Star Gabriel Basso Directs Iconoclast, the Internet-Age Taxi Driver

Gabriel Basso is not waiting around for Netflix to drop The Night Agent season 3. While those new episodes are already in the can, he just stepped behind the camera for his first feature as a director: a psychological thriller called Iconoclast. And yes, the logline is going big.

'Taxi Driver for the internet age.'

So what is Iconoclast?

Basso wrote it and is directing it, with himself in the cast. The story centers on a withdrawn young guy who becomes fixated on a live-streaming influencer. That obsession spirals until his sense of reality starts to slip. If you are picturing a modern-day Travis Bickle staring at a ring light, you are not far off. Bold pitch. No pressure.

Where it stands

Filming is underway right now. Deadline says Basso is leading the movie and has lined up a solid ensemble around him.

• Cast: Gabriel Basso, Courtney Eaton (Yellowjackets), Noah Centineo (Warfare), Rain Spencer (The Summer I Turned Pretty)
• Producer/financier: Alex Lebovici through Hammerstone Studios, the company behind Barbarian, Flight Risk, and Don't Move
• Producers: Noah Centineo and Enzo Marc for Arkhum Productions; Paul Bernard for McGuffin Entertainment; Gabriel Basso also produces
• Executive producers: Ibrahim Mohammed and Chase Vergari (Script 2 Screen Capital); Kevin G. Lee (Astria Studios); Alex Kaplunov

Meanwhile, about The Night Agent

If you are just here for Peter Sutherland updates: Netflix has a third season on the way, and all the episodes have wrapped. We are basically waiting on the streamer to say when they want to roll it out.

Basso's recent run

On top of The Night Agent, he has been stacking some interesting credits: Renny Harlin's The Strangers: Chapter 1 and The Strangers: Chapter 2; Kathryn Bigelow's A House of Dynamite; Clint Eastwood's Juror #2; the series The Big C; Jordan Vogt-Roberts' The Kings of Summer; J.J. Abrams' Super 8; and Ron Howard's Hillbilly Elegy, where he played a young version of the current Vice President of the United States, JD Vance.

Bottom line

Calling your debut film the internet-era heir to Scorsese is a swing. If Iconoclast nails that paranoid, fever-dream vibe, we could be in for something sharp and uncomfortable in the best way. I'm curious.