In a special screening at the Duke of York’s, Bart Layton will give viewers a true experience of his new film American Animals. Here he talks to Jamie Walker about it...

Hi Bart, tell us about American Animals.

It’s the bizarre but entirely true story of a group of young men who mistake their lives for a movie and attempt one of the most audacious art heists in US history.

It’s also a kind of coming of age story of a group of rather lost young men searching in all the wrong places for an identity and a way in which to be special.

How did you come across this true story to begin with?

I read about it in a magazine – thought it was extraordinary and then began a correspondence with the real perpetrators of the crime who at that point were serving a long prison sentence. What they said in their letters was unexpected and formed the basis of the script I began to write.

What made you want to turn it into a feature length film?

Not only was it a cracking yarn – and we all love a good caper – it became rather more than that. For me the story seemed increasingly relevant – it was a way into a conversation about the increasing pressure in our culture to be a somebody.

It seems to me that we are increasingly in a world where being average is almost synonymous with being a loser yet most of us will be average – that’s what the word means.

Part of what was driving this crime was about a desire to avoid the norm – to leave a mark on the world regardless of whether it’s a good or bad mark. And also, it’s just a great heist story!

As a Brit, was it interesting writing a film that focuses so much on the American dream?

Probably I watched too many American movies as a kid. Seriously, I think American culture is constantly fascinating and this was a story in part about life imitating movies.

True stories that happen in the US are often more outlandish and outrageous than those that happen in the UK, but I think the themes at the heart of this are in no way unique to the US. We are inhabiting the same culture with the same pressures upon us to be a somebody, whatever that means.

How much do you enjoy getting the chance to be there when your film is showcased?

That’s one of the many ways in which cinema has a magic that TV can never compete with – a group of strangers all convening in the dark to share an experience, to giggle or cry and in this case, bite their nails to the quick together.

It’s a brilliant thing and when you make a TV show you never get to experience that audience reaction so that’s a huge privilege. Audiences are different everywhere.

American audiences can be quite vocal and riotous at times – we Brits tend to me more restrained but for me it’s a very honest reaction you get.

And you’ll be doing a Q&A after...

Occasionally you walk into a screening and for some reason which you can never put your finger on, the energy is off and so those ones are less fun. But generally it’s great to make that connection with the audience.

What do you hope people take away from the film?

I hope the movie delivers on what people want and expect from a heist movie but equally I really want people to go away with a great deal more to think about than just the plot.

I hope folks will have plenty to take away to the pub to chew over which is in part about this pressure to live a so-called interesting life and the need to be recognized – without wanting to sound like an old dad, social media is helping create a world where our sense of ourselves and our self-esteem is bound up in this need for constant external validation.