It's a familiar story. The stereotypical American goes abroad crass and brutally honest, but with a heart of gold, who breaks all kinds of rules to save the day. But while the new movie still Water may wink at this formula, it has its own story to tell about America's place in the world. You're innocent, so we gotta keep fighting. It doesn't matter that I'm innocent Dad. It's not about justice about finding peace. That's Matt Damon as Bill Baker, a former oil rig worker who travels to Marseilles, France, to see his estranged Daughter, Alison, played by Abigail Breslin. She's in prison accused of the murder of a local French Arab girl, but claims to be innocent, and Baker struggles with the unfamiliar language, culture and legal system as he attempts to free her The movie is out now in theaters and its director is Tom McCarthy, who won the Academy Award for best original screenplay for Spotlight in 2016. I began by asking him if the real life case of the murder of MEREDITH Kercher, which sent American Amanda Knox to an Italian prison in 2000, and seven before she was eventually acquitted. Inspired this film. I would say the seed was there. I started the script 10 years ago, Really? And I was sort of fascinated with that case, particularly the idea of An American student being imprisoned and then ultimately focusing on the relationship between as you point out her and her estranged father. So it started there and worked on this first draft of the script with another writer, and I just got into a place where it just was straight up thriller. I just felt it lacked dimension and Maybe authenticity, and I sort of put it down. I made the decision is director not to pursue it. Put it in a drawer for about 67 years and I picked it up again and I re approached it sort of from Page one with two new French writers. And we really talked right off the bat with Tamar. But again, in the way Debray about exploring the sort of you know all the dimensions of this story, the human dimension of it. The thriller Dimension suspends