Code 8: Stephen and Robbie Amell’s Most Interesting Viewing Party Reveals

As movies go, Code 8 has an interesting story. What began as a 10-minute short film from Arrow star Stephen Amell and his cousin, Robbie Amell, has gone on to become surprise hit on Netflix with the full-length film hitting the No. 1 spot on the streaming giant this week. On Saturday, the Amells hosted a Twitter viewing party for the film, in the process offering fans a bit of insight about the fine details of the film and there ended up being some truly interesting insights about how the film was made as well as a few Arrow ties that fans may have missed.

If you aren’t familiar with Code 8, here’s a very brief primer. The Code 8 film had a long journey in becoming a reality. Back in 2016, the Amells debuted a short film set in a world where four percent of the population had special powers but were treated like outcasts and criminals. The short, which followed Robbie’s character just trying to get by, was popular with fans and soon after its release, the actors launched a crowdfunding campaign to create a full-length feature. The campaign — which was intended to help secure additional funding by proving the film’s viability with fans — was successful and, ultimately, Vertical Entertainment signed on for worldwide release.

Like the short before it, Code 8 is set in that bleak world where those with supernatural abilities are discriminated against. In the film Connor Reed (Robbie Amell) is one of those powered people and is struggling to pay for the medical treatment of his ill mother (Kari Matchett). When working as a day labor simply isn’t enough, Connor is lured into a lucrative criminal operation led by Garrett (Stephen Amell). Garrett helps Connor harness his powers to pull off a series of increasingly dangerous crimes on the behalf of Marcus Sutcliffe (Greg Bryk), the city’s drug lord, while the militarized police led by Agent Park (Sung Kang) and Agent Davis (Aaron Abrams) seek to bring them all down.

The film has gone on to something of a viral hit since its release. In early March, Code 8 was Apple’s Movie of the Week and more than that, the film is already getting a spinoff series on Quibi with both the Amells set to star in the project which will reunite them with director Jeff Chan as well as Chris Pare, who penned the film.

During the Twitter viewing party, both Amells shared some interesting information about the film and we’ve collected some of the more interesting gems. Read on for what the cousins revealed about Code 8 and be sure to let us know what you thought about the film in the comments below.

Code 8 is now streaming on Netflix.

An interesting practical effect

Studio versus Indie

An interesting challenge

Personal details

A bit of trivia…

…with a personal connection

Dedication

An Arrow connection

And ANOTHER one

And one hilarious anecdote