British Council Logo UK Films Database
Project Detail

Hard Shoulder

Synopsis

Carl Foster, a work obsessed man, reluctantly agrees to a weekend away with his disgruntled wife and disruptive children - it’s as much as he can do to muster any kind of enthusiasm for the few days he must endure in their company. Their constant bickering finally takes its toll on Carl when they are passed, on a deserted country road, by a convoy of ‘carnival types’, who, by mischief or accident, cause Carl to swerve off the road. With rage descending Carl gets into heated exchange with the travellers. Taking an enforced stop hours later, in a small layby, the family are again affronted as their stationary vehicle is rammed by an unseen assailant in a large truck. Dazed by the impact they wake, bound and gagged, within the dreary confines of an abandoned roadside diner, with, seemingly, the same carnival types now their abductors and antagonists. As the gang demeans, insults, and tortures each of their captives in turn, it falls to Carl to free his family from their predicament. But not everything is as it seems, their environment not as tortuous as they imagined, and Carl not all that he would have us believe.
Visit Film Website

Details

Year
2012
Type of project
Features
Running time
85 mins
Format
35mm
Director
Nicholas David Lean 1st Feature
Producer
Nicholas David Lean, Gabrielle Whyte-Hart, Mark Booth
Executive Producer
Mark Booth, Alan Booth, Caroline Whyte- Buchler
Editor
Derek Burgess
Screenwriter
Nicholas David Lean
Director of Photography
Steven Priovolos
Production Designer
Claudia Brewster
Sound
John Quinn
Composer
Patrick Savage, Holeg Spies
Principal cast
Wil Johnson, Jamie Foreman, Jon Campling
Associate Producer
Steven Simmons
SFX & MU Supervisor
Mike Peel

Genre

Action

Categories

Fiction

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

Oceanstorm Films

WhyteBooth Pictures

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.

Suggest amendments

See also

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

Hard Shoulder Hard Shoulder

Director: Nicholas David Lean

Year: 2010

When a work-obsessed man reluctantly agrees to a weekend away with his disgruntled wife and disruptive children, a leisurely trip to the country becomes a fight for survival as a convoy of old-world carnival-type travellers force the family off the road, and then seem to engage them in a series of terrifying mind games in an abandoned roadside diner.

Action Horror Fantasy Sci-Fi
A ride-share driver looking in his rear view mirror, concentrating on the road ahead; a paper plane on the dashboard reflected in the window Appendix: Love

Director: Riad Arfin

Year: 2027

A Bangladeshi taxi driver in Glasgow spends one long night driving others to the airport while struggling to bring his own family to safety.

Drama
Two men and a woman sit in front of a desk looking concerned Blueberry Inn

Director: Sonia Guggenheim

Year: 2026

Loyal butler Jonathan is sent to rescue the failing Blueberry Inn, unaware his blinkered Lord plots to leave it to him and three chaotic staff as a social experiment. When the Lord dies suddenly, Jonathan discovers he's a co-owner of the Inn and has just one month to save it. Battling sabotage from furious heirs, the mismatched team (and a pig!) rally their communities, securing the Inn's future against all odds.

Climate / Environment Comedy Romance Woman Director