When Anthony Maras first read David Haig’s acclaimed stage play Pressure in 2020, Australia was engulfed by devastating bushfires.

It reminded him of the “terrifying power of nature.”

“You can see how it can turn on a dime, and all our plans can go out the window,” Maras says.

As the fires gave way to the Covid-19 pandemic, Maras found its story of a World War II-era meteorologist had a strong contemporary resonance.

“I thought to have a hero who is willing to get up and say the truth, even when he knew that his audience didn’t want to hear that, and were going to go against him, was a pertinent story to tell for today,” Maras said.

The play eventually became the Australian director’s latest feature film Pressure, starring an international cast and filmed in Britain with a reported budget of $43 million.

It’s the second feature film from Maras, following 2018’s locally-filmed Hotel Mumbai, which was set during the 2008 siege of the Taj Mahal Hotel.

Pressure stars Fleabag star Andrew Scott as James Stagg, a meteorologist hired by General Dwight D Eisenhower (played by Brendan Fraser). Stagg is tasked with forecasting the weather for the upcoming D-Day invasion – ultimately leading to the decision of whether to go, or not to go.

Despite its wartime setting, much of the movie’s suspense stems from its tense dialogue, with its most captivating moments featuring Stagg’s disagreements with Irving P Krick (played by the underrated Chris Messina) and hot-headed British Army commander Bernard “Monty” Montgomery (Damian Lewis).

Maras at he Pressure London photocall on board the HMS Belfast. Photo: Jeff Spicer

The novel idea that a weather man was essential in the success of D-Day was what initially drew Maras to the story, but soon the character of Stagg and his principles became the driving force of the narrative.

“It was this idea of a protagonist who has got the wisdom and the humility to say he doesn’t know with certainty what the answer is going to be, but to have an honest attempt to get it.”

Maras, the son of Adelaide property developer Theo Maras, spends his time split between South Australia and the US, but ensures all of his films have “a very strong Adelaide connection, even if they’re shot overseas”.

“We wrote a lot of the script [in Adelaide], then did all our post-production here,” he says.

“It’s good to be able to share it with friends and family and everyone here in Adelaide.”

On the differences between the US and Australian film industries, Maras says “the film community is pretty small everywhere”.

“I think more than anything, it’s a lifestyle thing in Adelaide, where we were able to have a good environment to film in and just to do our post-production, and more than anything, it’s the human connection with people that you’ve worked with,” he says.

Pressure received a post-production, digital and visual effects rebate from the South Australian Film Corporation for its local work, with sound by Studio 508, visual effects by Rising Sun Pictures and archival restoration by the Andreacchio brothers.

The film joins a long tradition of high-calibre local filmmaking from Australian New Wave classics such as Picnic at Hanging Rock and Breaker Morant to recent horror successes Talk to Me and The Babadook.

Oscar-winner Brendan Fraser plays Eisenhower in Pressure. Photo: Studio Canal

Screen Australia research found South Australia spent $94 million on making movies in its most recent period, compared to Queensland’s $935 million, NSW’s $832 million and Victoria’s $731 million, but Maras says that South Australia continues to punch above its weight.

“In South Australia, we have a whole bunch of new and mid-career filmmakers who are doing great things on the global stage. I always wish we could have more. It’s cliché to say, but we have a lot of talent here,” he says.

With the rise in streaming media, Maras says people are watching their screens more than ever, and South Australia “should be embracing that, because it is the future”.

“We’ve got a pretty good history in South Australia of making great stuff for the screens, so we should invest more,” he says.

Maras says the Pressure production went to “extreme lengths” to ensure historical accuracy, with multiple meteorologists on set. They included a 90-year-old retired meteorologist who worked with Stagg, and provided “granular day-to-day details of what life was like in those med rooms, the ashtrays full of cigarettes, and even the way they held the pens and the barometers”.

D-Day and WWII historians were also consultants on set, and contributed to “trying to get the spirit of the story to feel as true as possible.”

But, for Maras, “the underlying truth in the story of scientists speaking truth to power was sacrosanct”.

Pressure is in cinemas across Australia from October 28