Experiencing Interruptions?

The Lace

In Victorian England, Julia runs an apothecary shop that sells deadly poison to women in need of escape from their domineering husbands. Mrs Theodora Finchley, unknowingly to Julia, will be her most significant client yet, possessing the potential to unravel her meticulously laid schemes.

  • Nicole Sarah Fry
    Director
    Desires & Delusions (2022) and Lies on the Line (2023).
  • Nicole Sarah Fry
    Writer
    Desires & Delusions (2022) and Lies on the Line (2023).
  • Jasmine Fry
    Writer
    Desires & Delusions (2022) and Lies on the Line (2023).
  • Daniel Suarez-Reis
    Producer
    Paid the Price (2024).
  • Kate Bracken
    Key Cast
    "Julia"
    Calibre (2018), Being Human (2008) and Killing Eve (2018).
  • Sherice Banton
    Key Cast
    "Theodora Finchley"
    Everything Now (2023).
  • Tom Bridger
    Key Cast
    "Marcus Finchley"
  • Rosie Austin
    Key Cast
    "Agnes Jones"
  • Romo Sikdar
    Key Cast
    "Bernard Manwaring"
    Call the Midwife (2024), Growin' Pains (2023) and EastEnders (2021).
  • Jamie Lee-Hill
    Key Cast
    "Oliver Blinkensop"
  • Julian Butterworth
    Cinematographer
    Desires & Delusions (2022) and Lies on the Line (2023).
  • Nicole Sarah Fry
    Costume Designer
    Desires & Delusions (2022) and Lies on the Line (2023).
  • Julian Butterworth
    Editor
    Desires & Delusions (2022) and Lies on the Line (2023).
  • Nicole Sarah Fry
    Production Designer
    Desires & Delusions (2022) and Lies on the Line (2023).
  • Dan Whitlock
    Composer
    Desires & Delusions (2022) and Lies on the Line (2023).
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Period Drama, Gothic, Drama
  • Runtime:
    14 minutes 54 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 5, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    11,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, Sony.
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.85:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Nicole Sarah Fry

Nicole Sarah Fry is a 25-year-old neurodivergent British director and writer raised in Dorset. She specialises in period films, from the Regency-set "Desires and Delusions" (2022), 1960s-set "Lies on the Line”(2023) and now “The Lace” (2025), set in the 1880s. She delights in many aspects of filmmaking, from garment-making to production design, where she uses her attention to detail to bring the characters' world to life.

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Director Statement

When I first heard the story of professional female poisoner Guilia Tofana, it was a lightbulb moment. Giulia helped wives in 17th-century Italy escape their horrid husbands and yet her story is untold in the film world. Her poison was so infamous that on Mozart’s deathbed, he said, ‘I cannot rid myself of this idea, someone has given me Aqua Tofana’. In both 1600s Italy and 1800s England (the setting for my short), women’s rights decreased dramatically when they became married. Divorce was costly and extremely scandalous, and a wife’s finances were under the control of their husband.

While the film is set 140 years ago, Guilia’s story remains relevant. As a national emergency has been declared in the UK concerning violence against women and girls, and women’s rights are being stripped away in the US, Giulia’s story has gained momentum online. There is always fascination, as I have felt myself, concerning women who go against the grain — especially those who entirely reject society’s standards for what a good, nice woman should be. Lady murderesses certainly fit this category. Even if we disagree with their actions, their stories are still captivating. Having a morally complex female protagonist in Julia, we hope to spark discussion and debate.

As a lover of British period dramas, I decided to set the film in Victorian England, sometimes considered to be the ‘golden age of poisoning’. The Victorian gowns, sewn by the director, display the bustle style that was ubiquitous in 1880. Julia and her successful customers wear black widows’ weeds as mandated by strict mourning rules. Her customers who are yet to murder their husbands, in rebellion against their upcoming period of darkness, don luridly bright clothes. The magenta and green coloured dresses that appear in the film are inspired by aniline dyes — chemical dyes that emerged in the 1860s — which produced garish shades. Some of these new dyes contained arsenic, and therefore could be harmful to their wearers. Apart from these pops of colour, the film is naturally graded. The town the short is set has a Dickensian grime to it, setting the stage for the secretive dealings of Julia.