Lacuna

Directed by Sophie Black

2026

Prime Video and the National Film & Television School

Lacuna is a new short film from Midlands director Sophie Black and explores the sensitive subject of sexual abuse and its many ramifications.

Sadie Soverall (Saltburn) stars as shy art student Mia, who is enrolled in a life drawing class and sketches intensely whilst receiving compliments from a supportive teacher. Also attending is a young man called Danny (Albert Magashi) and the two lock eyes as they peer behind their canvases.

However, as a man and woman model begin to position themselves for the next pose, their proximity appears to cause a strange sense of anxiety in Mia. Despite this, she begins her drawing. But quickly finds her angst causing her to scrawl uncontrollably on the paper.

Made as part of National Film & TV Society (NFTS) and Amazon Prime Video Directors Workshop, Lacuna brilliantly delves into the distress and sensitive issues asscoiated with past trauma. The cinematography is first-class and the use of life-drawing as both a story device and as a thematic core is exceptionally well-handled.

Creating, and potentially erasing, one’s past sees the film put emphasis on “the self” and the body, which appear as motifs throughout. Production design and artistry has always been a strength of the director’s style (see A Different Place and Lepidopterist reviews) and here it is pushed to the forefront to become part of the story-telling process itself.

Later as Mia shares a lighthearted moment with Danny, she agrees to join him at a party - but with some trepidation. A passionate kiss between them is less a declaration of romance than it is Mia’s escape from prying eyes and disturbing gazes. But as they reconnect back at Mia’s home, she silently opens up about her traumatic past through a series of private paintings which say more than her words ever could.

What haunts Mia is a secret set up well by director Sophie Black. And this ensures the short’s central mystery gives the narrative an intriguing tone even in its brief 14-minutes. And two formidable but appropriately delicate performances from the leads provides a tactful and subtle welcome into a story with difficult topics it wants to tackle.

The film doesn’t brush past the constant overhanging entity faced by survivors of abuse at its ending. Yet there is a glimmer of hope with the support and understanding of others. But even with this, it does emphasise the constant worries around isolation and dealing with things alone.

Lacuna is a wonderful short with a technical skill as good as any local film you’re likely to see. And this marries perfectly with a story told less with words than it does visuals, using the creative process as a way to deal with one’s personal wounds. With all the filmmaking aspects as sublime as this, Lacuna uses the technical and the creative to draw a brilliantly made and powerful exploration of surviving abuse.

★★★★★

5 / 5

Michael Sales

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Lacuna is screening on Saturday 25th April as part of the Beeston Film Festival at the Arc Cinema

Click here for tickets