Ryan J. Smith’s Skint Film Company sees its latest release with Springer: A Dangerous Game (2026). Written, produced and directed by Ryan J. Smith who’s previous filmography includes Kid (2025) and Arthur’s Empire (2026), sees this upcoming thriller enter ‘dangerous’ territory for its lead Jake Waring (Arthur’s Empire).
Waring plays Gareth Wright, a primary school teacher looking for one last shooting weekend before going back to work after the summer holidays. Set in the deep Scottish countryside, he’s armed only with a spring-powered rifle. But as a budding game hunter, he finds himself in a battle for survival when he crosses paths with a ruthless landowner who’ll stop at nothing to protect his territory.
Joining Waring is Ryan Davies (Kid) who plays Miles, an unruly Scottish landowner who ruthlessly battles Gareth. Returning to Skint Film Company is Rhiann Millington (Kid) who plays the sassy May Wright, Gareth’s pregnant wife and a private tutor who plays a key role amongst the story and action.
Kenneth James and Kimberley Palmer join the cast as Mick and Susan. The director and its cast let us know exactly what to expect in Springer: A Dangerous Game. Read what they have to say in our exclusive feature with Skint Film Company below.
Watch The Springer: A Dangerous Game
Teaser Trailer:
The Cast For Springer: A Dangerous Game Lets Us Know What To Expect:
JAKE WARING:
“Springer: A Dangerous Game is a deeply heartfelt story that is masquerading as an action film… It’s actually about family, responsibility and feeling worthy. Working with Skint and Ryan again is always a no brainer. It is a filming experience like no other. Ryan takes the unnecessary bloat out of filmmaking. But what you are left with is, if nothing else, an absolutely riotously good time.”
RYAN DAVIES:
“I’ve worked with Ryan previously and he’s an actors director, he understands that even though he’s written these characters he’s open to you putting your own stamp and ideas on them. But it feels like a collaborative process and any actor wants that, it was a small cast and crew which created a tight bond and I think you can see that on screen.
It felt like we were creating something special and seeing the raw footage in the evenings only made me more excited about it. Ryan talked about wanting Miles to be the big bad lurking in the background of the epic Scottish countryside setting.”
RHIANN MILLINGTON:
“There’s more to May than meets the eye, she’s not just a wife, she’s sassy and is a source of great comfort to Gareth and it was fun playing their relationship dynamic.”
DIRECTOR:
RYAN J. SMITH
“Springer: A Dangerous Game started out as a straight-forward action film set across rural Scotland. But as we were shooting, we all realised the film had a lot more emotional potential than we first thought. We were ultimately able to marry slice-of-life scenes alongside larger-than-life action set pieces.
All of the action has significant emotional weight which drives the story forward, which I think is a great challenge for many action-heavy movies. The shooting process was a long haul across thirty acres in Scotland. We were a skeleton unit taking the movie one yard at a time. At the end of the day, for this type of movie, you can’t beat filming in real locations.
We were often at the mercy of the weather, so we incorporated the fact that it would flip-flop between burning sunshine and heavy rain into the scenes. It’s the most atmospheric and effects-heavy film I’ve made yet, and I’m very excited for audiences to watch it.”
At the end of the day, for this type of movie, you can’t beat filming in real locations.
Ryan J. Smith on directing.
Click Through The Images Below To See The Exclusive Behind-the-scenes Shots On The Set Of
Springer: A Dangerous Game:
Check out our interview with Ryan J. Smith on Kid here and our review of Arthur’s Empire at Raindance Film Festival 2026 here.