'The Instigators' trailer: Boston is everywhere in the new Matt Damon-Casey Affleck movie (2024)

Movies

Matt Damon and Casey Affleck team up to rob a corrupt politician in "The Instigators," a new movie filmed in Boston.

By Kevin Slane

June 13, 2024

The first trailer for “The Instigators”hit the internet Thursday morning, giving audiences a sneak peek at the upcoming Matt Damon and Casey Affleck moviefilmed in Bostonlast year.

Beyond revealing new details about the film’s plot, the trailer released by Apple shows that “The Instigators,” initially billed as a crime thriller, has a lot more comedic elements than previously anticipated.

Watch the trailer for “The Instigators”

What is the plot of “The Instigators”?

Damon and Affleck play two Boston-area dads from different backgrounds. Damon’s Rory is a former Marine facing financial and familial troubles who has always done things by the book, while Affleck’s Cobby is a career criminal who is rough around the edges. (In one scene, we see Cobby’s son blow into a breathalyzer so Cobby can use his motorcycle.)

The duo are brought together for a robbery planned by Scalvo (Jack Harlow, “White Men Can’t Jump”) and Mr. Besegai (Michael Stuhlbarg, “A Serious Man”), in which they rip off “ill-gained earnings” funding the corrupt Mayor of Boston (Ron Perlman, “Hellboy”).

After watching Rory take notes while they discuss logistics, Cobby is clearly unimpressed.

“A little late for a career change, ain’t it?” Affleck asks Damon. “What are you, 60?”

After the heist goes awry, Rory and Cobby are pursued by multiple police departments, fixers associated with the mayor, and “vengeful crime bosses.”

In an attempt to execute a clean getaway, Rory convinces his therapist (Hong Chau, “The Whale”) to pose as his hostage.

Where was “The Instigators” filmed?

“The Instigators” was filmed primarily in Boston, Cambridge, and Quincy in the early and later months of 2023, with a break in the middle of the year that coincided with the dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

Early in the trailer, Damon walks along the warning track at Fenway Park before descending into the depths of the ballpark with Harlow.

Damon and Affleck also have a conversation filmed at Wollaston Beach in Quincy, where crews filmed near the Squantum Yacht Club in May 2023. (The film actually used the working title “Quincy” during production.)

Beyond Boston, Cambridge, and Quincy, you can also see Damon sitting in a car outside Larsen Skating Rink in Winthrop at around the 14-second mark in the trailer.

Later, a Boston police officer played by Ving Rhames (“Mission: Impossible”) can be seen entering Bova’s Bakery in the North End.

Bova’s owner Ralph BovatoldThe Boston Globethat the bakery was used in a scene where Rhames demands answers about the robbery.

“He starts smashing all the showcases and food until someone talks, and no one says anything,” Bova said. “They’re taking all my showcases out, and they’re putting in their prop showcases, but they still want my food.”

Director Doug Liman (“The Bourne Identity”) and producer Kevin Walsh pulled out all the stops for “The Instigators,” filming a shootout outside Boston City Hall, and a chase scene that takes Damon, Affleck, and Chau from the Back Bay to the Esplanade to the river roads.

“We did a stunt that’s along the Esplanade that runs along the Charles River, which they’ve never shut down,” Walsh told the AP. “We did some stuff that you’ll never see in other films. It was challenging but really cool.”

“The Instigators” cast

Along with the previously mentioned actors (Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Hon Chau, Jack Harlow, Ron Perlman, Ving Rhames, Michael Stuhlbarg), “The Instigators” also features Paul Walter Hauser (“Black Bird”), Alfred Molina (“Spider-Man 2”), and Toby Jones (“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”).

Directed by Liman and written by Quincy native Chuck MacLean (“City on a Hill”), “The Instigators” was produced by Damon and Ben Affleck’s new studio, Artists Equity.

“The Instigators” release date

“The Instigators” is being released by Apple Original Films, which is giving the heist comedy an initial run in theaters beginning Friday, August 2. The film will quickly move to the company’s Apple TV+ streaming service, where it will debut globally on Friday, August 9.