Doctor Who and Broadchurch star Jodie Whittaker is set to star in and executive produce The Country, a dystopian thriller short film from writer-director Ella Grace Kennedy.
Shy Billy Productions’s project is produced by Charlotte Brownlee of House Productions, whose impressive credits include major titles like The Crown and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The Country tackles deep themes of bodily autonomy, oppression, and control through the lens of an extremist religious commune in a role-reversed society.
It follows seventeen-year-old Aaron, played by Eoin McCaul, as doubt begins to creep into his belief system under rigid laws imposed upon the male body. Featuring a strong supporting cast that includes Anna Popplewell (The Chronicles of Narnia) and Jake Kenny-Byrne (Miss Austen), the short aims to spark a powerful perspective shift.
By placing men at the center of this restrictive world, Kennedy’s vision forces audiences to confront the terrifying, dehumanizing realities and ongoing struggles over reproductive rights that women continue to face in today’s society.
