Director Joseph Zentil always knew he wanted to direct a feature film. Watching a close friend persevere through recovery following a major motorcycle accident proved the right inspiration for his feature directorial debut, “Born to Lose,” starring “Halloween” and “Oppenheimer” breakout Dylan Arnold, and playing in competition at the Raindance Film Festival. 

The American drama follows Arnold’s Andy, a young biker with addiction issues living in a small Kentucky town. When his dad suddenly dies, Andy tries to take his place in the family business by tightening ties with the town’s drug kingpin. What happens is the opposite, with Andy racking up impossible debts and getting himself and loved ones in danger as he scrambles to find a sense of self-worth. The cast also includes “Love Story” star Sarah Pidgeon as Andy’s love interest, James Les Gros (“Good One”) as his mentor and Ambyr Childers (“The Master”) as his sister.  

Speaking with Variety out of Raindance, director Zentil says “putting pen to paper” following his friend’s accident was “a cathartic, personal and very relatable experience.”

“We watched [our friend] persevere through this experience, rebuilding his life and his motorcycle piece by piece,” he recalls. “I felt there was a certain poetry to that and it was a bit of a canvas to incorporate some of the larger ideas we had. Whether that be the role inherited identity plays in Andy’s life as he determines what kind of man he really wants to be, or [how] building his bike personifies his ability to choose a more fulfilling path.”

Casting-wise, Zentil says their “wonderful casting director” Susane Scheel first brought the rising Pidgeon to their attention. “We saw incredible female actors, but only a small percentage of them had the musical chops we were seeking for the role of Tabitha, who is a country singer in the film. It has been wonderful watching her succeed with ‘Love Story’ and everything she is working on. I’m not surprised at all that she is seeing this kind of success. She and Dylan knew each other prior to filming, and they had instant chemistry the moment she walked on set.”

Finding the right Andy was “key” to the project, with Zentil saying Arnold was “a revelation.” “I remember within the first few moments of talking to him, thinking that this was our guy. He had the emotional comprehension of the character and is such a physical actor, I knew he would be able to embody the stoicism and silence that our introverted character required.”

Arnold, in turn, tells Variety he was struck by “how intimate” the story felt upon a first read. “It had those elements that you’d expect in a story about bike culture in America — the fast-paced moments — but it also really took its time.”

The “You” actor watched several classic biker movies and, most importantly, learned how to ride a motorbike for the role, “which my mom wasn’t too thrilled about,” he jokes. “But really, learning how to ride was one of the best parts of this whole process. I don’t recommend anyone learning on a hardtail as I did; it was definitely trial by fire, but it was such a visceral experience and one I definitely want to continue with. Sorry, Mom. Also, there’s a bike crash in the movie, so watching Martyn Williams, our stunt rider, lay down this bike at full speed was pretty epic.” 

The research process for Andy means Arnold’s YouTube homepage is full of motorcycle videos to this day. “I wanted to do as much research on my own as I could, but what really helped me understand the community more was actually being on location, with countless bikers who’ve been riding their whole lives,” he says. “Getting to know and talking to these people who have lived this way and have a passion for this lifestyle, doing it justice, was the most important thing for me.”

“It was paramount to us to give audiences an authentic representation of what modern biker culture looks like today, and so much of the tonality and physical details come from our creative team’s collective lived experience,” adds the director. “And not only did I go through that education, but it really came full circle when Dylan came on board and I got to watch him go through a similar education. I think this community truly is a brotherhood. Regardless of status, it is a great equalizer.”

The film was shot in Paducah, a small town in Kentucky, with the cast and crew spending roughly three months in town. “We are still connected to people from Paducah, and the support we received from the community was truly unmatched,” says Zentil. “I don’t think we would have had the same experience in a major city.”

Zentil wanted to portray the “richness of small town America” on screen to shine a light on the many “unrepresented and unsung” communities that exist between metropolises like Los Angeles and New York. “When we decided to shoot in Western Kentucky, it was important for us to get out there [and] to have a genuine understanding of the hardships that these people were generally facing. We are a small independent film and didn’t have the opportunity, nor did we want to shoot on fabricated sets. We very much wanted to bring as much authenticity to the screen as possible.”

“Born to Lose” is written by Zentil alongside Pierce Csurgo and Eric J. Kinsey. Zentil and Csurgo produce via Strange Customs alongside Tom Putnam and Brett Woodall of Commonwealth Creative Entertainment, and Roger M. Mayer of Brooklyn Reptyle Productions. “The Bear” star Matty Matheson executive produces alongside Kinsey and Michele Silva-Neto of Cretney Williams Investments.