When Robert Pattinson reached out to Josh and Benny Safdie, the filmmakers behind the new thriller “Good Time,” he did so based on a single image from one of their films. He didn’t know them. And they didn’t know Pattinson — or his work in the multibillion dollar “Twilight” franchise, which made him a heartthrob to millions worldwide.
Turns out, however, the actor’s experience being chased by the paparazzi was just what the Safdies, both Boston University graduates, needed for the bank-robbing sociopath at the center of “Good Time,” opening in Boston Aug. 25.
“He had this wounded war veteran vibe,” Josh Safdie said of Pattinson at a packed Brattle Theatre screening of the film Sunday night. Like his character, Connie Nikas, the British actor was “a man on the run.”
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Brian Tamm, executive director of the Independent Film Festival Boston, interviewed the Safdies after the screening, along with the film’s composer, Daniel Lopatin — also known as Oneohtrix Point Never — who won the Soundtrack Award at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival in May.
The trio regaled the crowd (many of whom lined up outside the Brattle before the screening, hoping for a seat) with behind-the-scenes tales about how “Good Time” came together, how the pulsing score developed, even how they persuaded Iggy Pop to collaborate on the movie’s closing song, “The Pure and the Damned.”
Their excitement about “Good Time,” and about working together, was palpable.
“We’re all motormouths,” Lopatin quipped. “We just like freaking out about our respective crafts — and that was fun.”
The crowd couldn’t let the Safdies go without asking about what it’s like to have Martin Scorsese executive produce their upcoming project, “Uncut Gems.” Josh didn’t even take a beat: “It’s like the burning bush talking to you.”
Hayley Kaufman can be reached at hayley.kaufman@globe.com.
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