Feature film project
The Lock
After actively refusing to immigrate to the UK with his mother, a young war veteran returns home to South‑East Ukraine — where he and his closest friend confront a society growing indifferent as the war stagnates in 2018.
A psychological drama about trauma, accessibility, and the emotional cost of living as if nothing is happening.
What The Lock is
In 2018, as hostilities in Eastern Ukraine stagnate, two young veterans come back home. Petro returns in a wheelchair; his best friend Andrii returns in one piece, carrying trauma he does not yet know how to name. Petro's mother Nina wants him to emigrate with her to the UK, convinced Ukraine has no place for people like him, but he refuses.
Back in civilian life, Petro is tormented by the screech of a broken gate lock in his residential area. The metal sound triggers memories of the injury that changed his life. What should be a simple repair becomes a symbol of inaccessible infrastructure, social indifference, and a body that no longer obeys him in the way it once did.
Andrii tries to carry on as normal, believing he has no right to trauma after recovering bodies from the Volnovakha bus attack and returning physically unharmed. As both men attempt to work out what they can and cannot control, they come up against a society exhausted by war, fractured by denial, and unwilling to look directly at what is coming from the east.
Why this project matters
The Lock focuses on a period of Ukrainian life that is often misunderstood in international coverage: the years between the outbreak of war in 2014 and the full-scale invasion of 2022. Rather than reducing that history to headlines, the film grounds it in everyday civilian and veteran experience.
It explores reintegration, disability, and untreated post-traumatic stress in a society that is physically and psychologically unprepared to support the people it sends to war. It also speaks to migration pressure, family division between Ukraine and the UK, and the social habits of denial that allow danger to feel distant until it becomes personal.
Developed by Ukrainian filmmakers with first-hand cultural experience of the world it depicts, the project is intended as both reflection and testimony: a character-driven psychological drama that honours complexity, lived experience, and the emotional afterlife of war.
Latest updates
Development package in active refinement
Creative and production materials are being sharpened for funder-facing conversations, submissions, and the next stage of project packaging.
Partnership conversations underway
Discussions continue with aligned producers and collaborators who can help strengthen the route from development into production.
Story and positioning materials consolidated
Synopsis, context, and external-facing project materials are being aligned into a clear, consistent narrative for industry audiences.
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We are seeking funding partners, co-producers, and aligned collaborators who can help move The Lock through development and toward production with clarity, care, and credibility.
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