Project Detail

A Deal Is A Deal (Three And Out)

Synopsis

Paul Callow has a dream. Fed up with city life and driving trains, he longs to commune with Nature and write novels. But that’s easier dreamt than done. The trauma of having two people fall under his train in as many weeks does little to improve his mood, until he hears that three fatal accidents in a month, qualifies you for early retirement with 10 years’ salary - lump sum!

Paul suddenly sees a way of clearing his debts and escaping to a better life. All he has to do is find a willing victim. After some bizarre encounters, he eventually meets up with itinerant Irishman Tommy Cassidy furious at being saved from certain death by jumping off a bridge. Paul offers him £1500 cash to wait till Monday.

Racked with guilt at having abandoned his family 8 years ago, Tommy decides to salve his conscience by paying them a visit and Paul insists on tagging along to protect his ‘investment’. But Tommy’s wife Rosemary and his daughter Frankie, now a beautiful, feisty and independent young woman, both harbour a deep-rooted grudge. Over the course of the weekend, relationships between all four are changed forever but when Monday morning arrives, Paul and Tommy are confronted with the harsh reality of the deal they struck.

Surely they won’t go through with it. Or will they? After all - A Deal is a Deal.

Details

Year
2009
Type of project
Features
Running time
95 mins
Format
35mm
Director
Jonathan Gershfield 1st Feature
Producer
Aaron Gershfield
Co-Producer
Aaron Gershfield
Editor
Jon Gregory
Screenwriter
Steve Lewis, Tony Owen
Director of Photography
Richard Greatrex
Production Designer
Amanda McArthur
Sound
Alistair Crocker
Composer
Trevor Jones
Principal cast
Mackenzie Crook, Colm Meaney, Imelda Staunton, Gemma Arterton

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

Rovinge Motion Picture Company PLC

Northway House
1379 High Road
London N20 9LP
UK

T +44 (0)7825 173 409

Sales Company

Worldwide Bonus Entertainment Plc

Northway House
1379 High Road
London N20 9LP
UK

T +44 (0)800 528 5286

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

A smartly dressed woman and man sit side by side in a waiting  room, sharing a quiet smile. Marriage Test

Director: Sara Nourizadeh

Year: 2026

Set in a mosque waiting room in 1980s South Wales, and inspired by the true story of writer-director Sara Nourizadeh's parents, a young couple whose relationship crossed boundaries of culture, faith and expectation. At a time when Iranian politics dominated UK headlines and shaped public attitudes, a Welsh woman and her Iranian fiancé prepare for an Islamic conversion ceremony – a requirement they must fulfil if they are to marry. What follows is a quietly charged and emotionally intimate portrait of two people trying to navigate a moment that is both deeply personal and subtly political. As they wait for the ceremony to begin, small details – a trembling hand, a whispered joke, a fleeting moment of doubt – reveal the emotional stakes beneath the surface. Their conversation dances between humour and tension, affection and uncertainty, reflecting the push and pull of family pressures, cultural misunderstandings, and their own hopes for the future. Authentic VHS archive footage of the real couple is interwoven within this scripted drama, grounding the film in lived experience and offering an unexpectedly tender glimpse into the decades that followed.

Colourful bugs made with oil pastel and cut out on paper, on a pink background Foreign Bodies

Director: Lysander Wong

Year: 2025

A simple itch descends into an outbreak with many legs. Certain things will always find their way to the surface. An exploration into the horror of having a body, of unbelonging.

Animation image - Strange creatures circle a pink creature, who is holding a yellow strawberry. Eye Jam

Director: Julia Jolliffe

Year: 2025

A lonely creature’s desperate struggle for connection in a desolate world - whatever the cost.