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EXCLUSIVE: UK indie feature Worry Time, written by and starring Emma Paetz (Pennyworth) and produced by and co-starring Ben Aldridge (Fleabag) has wrapped shoot in London.
The micro-budget absurdist feminist thriller is a co-production between Penny4 and Paetz’s company Thaddeus. Producers are Cambria Bailey-Jones, Heloise Lowenthal, Emma Paetz and Aldridge who is making his producing debut.
The film marks the filmmaking debut of British theatre director Tom Brennan (The Last of the Pelican Daughters). The team is submitting the movie for 2025 festivals.
The official synopsis reads: “Something terrible has happened to Annette’s (Paetz) friend, Vivian, and everyone’s decided to move on from it. Everyone except Annette. She will not ‘process’. She will not forgive. She’s going to make an allegorical sci-fi film – a reflection on women’s accommodation of male dominance – whether or not Vivian wants her to. The film deals with the grief of a friendship faded, aliens as a metaphor for domestic abuse, the futility of art, and bleeding during sex…it’s more or less a comedy.”
Additional cast include Stefanie Martini (The Gold) as Vivian; Afsaneh Dehrouyeh (Marriage) as Viv, Douggie McMeekin (Chernobyl) as Laurie and Willy Hudson (The Long Call) as Willy. Cinematography comes from Rob O’Kelly.
Paetz and Aldridge previously starred together in HBO Max series Pennyworth, playing Martha and Thomas Wayne, respectively. Fleabag actor Aldridge is also coming off M. Night Shyamalan’s Knock At The Cabin.
Writer, producer and star Paetz said: “I wrote Worry Time with the necessary delusion that it might never be made, and I could therefore be as honest as I liked. Unfortunately, the fierce guidance and early support of Ben Aldridge, Tom Brennan and Cambria Bailey Jones minted the film into existence. We brought together a group that I’m incredibly proud to have collaborated with – artists at the early stages of their careers who I’m certain will become the greats we look back on in awe. In making Worry Time as an independent microbudget, we felt free to explore cinematic tones and themes free of comparison. Themes such as male dominance in female relationships, bleeding during sex, worrying, self-loathing, additional worrying, and the sound that a black hole makes in space. I can’t wait to share our film with the rest of the world.”
Aldridge commented: “I have been wanting to produce for some time and I already knew how talented an actor Emma was from working alongside her on HBOMax’s Pennyworth for three seasons! Worry Time is such a clever and subversive script. Emma’s writing is totally unique; cynical yet tender, embarrassingly tragic and yet shockingly funny, razor sharp, twisted, awkward as hell and just very, very weird. Amidst all that, she manages to land poignant conversations around subjects we’re all still struggling to navigate and articulate, while simultaneously entertaining us, provoking us and creeping us out. It’s one of the best things I’ve read, and I not only jumped to be in it but felt passionately about joining the team to be a part of producing it.”
Producer Bailey-Jones added: “It is rare to read a script and so immediately resonate with everything about it, so when Tom sent me Worry Time, I knew instantly this was something I, and Penny4, needed to make. A feminist film that is unflinching, vibrant, nuanced and so darkly funny was a gift to receive. Emma and I spoke at length about the creative team – we knew we needed to reach out to filmmakers who understood the off-beat vision and our ethos for the film, and we were blown away by the calibre of team we assembled, both on and off screen. The collaborative nature of the set is part of what made Worry Time so special.”
