Project Detail

Brakes

Synopsis

"If you knew where it would end, would you ever begin?"
A raw, dark comedy about endings and beginnings. A failed relationship is rarely predicted but always reviewed, and the film adopts this reverse narrative.
Split into two halves, the film follows the tumultuous stories of nine couples. It plunges straight into the brutal and absurd endings of their relationships, and travels back in time to the moment when the spark of love between them first emerged. Using London as their match maker, each of their stories is unique, yet familiar to us all.
Edinburgh International Film Festival 2016 - World premiere

Details

Year
2016
Type of project
Features
Running time
84 mins
Format
DCP
Director
Mercedes Grower 1st Feature
Producer
Mercedes Grower, Kurban Kassam
Executive Producer
Judy Counihan
Editor
Yasmine Almosawi, Andy Hage
Screenwriter
Mercedes Grower
Director of Photography
Denzil Armour Brown, Gabi Norland
Production Designer
Emma Tornero
Sound
Maciej Mariusz Miskiewicz, Alex Thomson, Guy Fixen
Composer
Quickspace, Sybil
Principal cast
Julian Barratt, Steve Oram, Paul McGann, Kerry Fox, Julia Davis, Noel Fielding, Peter Wight, Roland Gift, Seb Cardinal, Mercedes Grower, Kate Hardie

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

Brakes Film Production

Mercedes Grower

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.

About A Bell About A Bell

Director: Simon Callow

Year: 2026

Sami, a Syrian refugee in the UK, and Bryony, an aimless young librarian, embark on a highly personal quest to preserve a bell from a demolished Christian church. What begins as a civic protest quickly becomes a criminal case when they accidentally near fatally injure a security guard, and find themselves on the run from the police. However, our accidental heroes’ fate is sealed by a kindly police sergeant who is moved by their mission, and our odd-couple achieve their goal of saving the bell and reminding the town they both call home about the importance of remembering its own story.

Steiner Steiner

Director: Remo Pini

Year: 2028

The dramatic true story of Austrian visionary, Rudolf Steiner who against ridicule, controversy and attempts on his life, developed an intricate philosophy based on his ability to research and perceive spiritual dimensions.

British-Mexican woman sat on her bed with a tray on her drawing a comic. Chasing Home

Director: Christopher Mills

Year: 2026

A British-Mexican comedy, the first one of its kind in terms of representation, about identity, family dynamics, and the relentless pressure to “have it all together” by your 30s. The film explores the universal themes of self-worth, envy, and societal expectations, while asking a core question: What makes someone a failure in the eyes of themselves and others? At its heart, this is the story of Camila, a 30-year-old British-Mexican comic book creator whose life is spiralling out of control. As she faces a job loss, mounting financial pressure, and the revelation that her 51-year-old mother is unexpectedly pregnant, Camila's desperation grows. She’s torn between familial obligations and her own dreams of independence, symbolised by a flat she can no longer afford. Her personal journey is a chaotic and sometimes humorous collision of cultural expectations, family dysfunction, and her own insecurities.