Economic Abuse, also known as Domestic Financial Abuse, is surprisingly common around the world, yet little is known of it. In the U.K. one in five women and one in seven men have experienced this form of coercive control from a partner.

To bring attention to this issue and its suffering, and to spearhead a new campaign, we were tasked with producing a film to bring the experience to life and give audiences a sense of the lived experience of this unseen abuse.

We researched the many and diverse experiences, then scripted a piece to reflect the common themes and threads we identified. The resulting piece conveys the stifling, contradictory and complex emotions of victims and how, very often, it really is ‘a gradual process’.

To respect anonymity, we worked with an amazing (and brave!) actor to deliver the script and undergo the experience, with close stunt advice and supervision. The film was realised totally ‘in-camera’ with no special effects. We also carefully designed and built the equipment used to deliver the experience with multiple options to ensure our actor’s safety.

The film caused a real splash, winning Triple Gold at EVCOM, as well as awards at Cannes and New York Festivals. More importantly, it caught the attention of government ministers, enabling client access to 10 Downing Street and the issue raised and discussed in Parliament.