True Calling
Synopsis
Poised for success, Josh presses pause on his political campaigning and spirits himself to the Yorkshire hometown he hasn’t seen in years. Once there, he strolls the streets and countryside, reflecting on the man he was and contemplating the man he wants to be. Meeting up with his former love Maddy (Eliza Marsland), who herself is facing a crossroads in the form of her imminent wedding, the pair discuss their past, what could have been and how they each now fit into a changing world.
Taking a graceful detour through UK politics, spirituality and purpose, Erik Knudsen’s film tells a timeless story of love, longing and regret, infused with a wry religious flavour reminiscent of landmark cinema classics such as Denys Arcand’s JESUS OF MONTREAL and the warmth and engagement of Richard Linklater’s BEFORE SUNRISE.
Details
- Year
- 2021
- Type of film
- Features
- Running time
- 88 min
- Format
- 4K Digital
- Director
-
Erik Knudsen
- Producer
- Erik Knudsen
- Editor
- Erik Knudsen
- Screenwriter
- Erik Knudsen
- Director of Photography
- Kwaku Oware
- Sound
- Billy Glew
- Principal cast
- Eliza Marsland, David Smith, Ben Hynes
- Costume Design
- Ken Lang
- Assistant Director and Assistant Camera
- Rowenna Baldwin
Genre
Categories
Production Status
Production Company
One Day Films Ltd
26 Woodlands AvenueTodmorden OL14 5LT
Sales Company
Jonny Tull
Tull Stories81 Sidney Grove
Fenham
Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 5PE
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.

Director: Erik Knudsen
Year: 2024
The film centres around a small remote island off the coast of Greece, which is owned by Mr Goodwin. He has hired three young British people in their late 20s, Kai, Rosie and her brother, Daniel, to refurbish the only habitable house on the island, and its gardens, as part of preparations to let the island and the house out to city guests seeking a spiritual retreat and sanctuary. Daniel, Kai and Rosie have never met Mr Goodwin and are supervised by Mr Goodwin’s assistants who visit the island regularly. A surprise unsolicited visit to the island by a young Greek couple, Loukas and Themis, who seem driven by ideological social justice ambitions, creates a rift between Daniel, Kai and Rosie. Daniel finds himself caught between conflicting loyalties, as those around him gradually descend into a resentful ideological rebellion against the elusive Mr Goodwin and the classical and imperial history his heritage restoration project appears to celebrate. The resulting developments ultimately lead to a fateful confrontation with Mr Goodwin’s only son, when he unexpectedly visits the island in an attempt to rescue the wayward restoration project. No-one saw this coming and the consequences will be far reaching.

Director: Erik Knudsen
Year: 2021
No hiding from the true calling of your heart.<br /> <br /> A romantic drama with a sprinkling of politics and a mystical twist, TRUE CALLING is a contemporary tale of a successful young government minister who is faced with a moral and spiritual crisis as he heads into a national election. On the eve of a critical pre-election television debate that he is due to participate in, Josh Joseph, who is earmarked for continued ministerial success, decides, on impulse, to take a significant political risk. He disrupts his hectic electioneering schedule to leave London and drive to the north of England, in order to visit a female childhood friend, Maddy, whom he has not seen for 17 years. He has discovered that she is getting married on the day of the election and is sufficiently troubled by this news to feel the need to intervene in her decision. This inexplicably irrational action threatens his political career and leads to unsettling encounters with love, longing and regrets which will, inevitably, lead to profound changes in his personal and political life.

Director: Erik Knudsen
Year: 2018
What happens when fertility becomes a commodity in a fractured society? Oedipus reborn. Sophocles’ classic of classics adapted for the 21st Century. <br /> A contemporary tragedy about the unravelling of the most fundamental of relationships in society; that between a father, a mother and a child. Set in the context of a world where donor eggs and sperm are freely traded as increasing numbers of people are having to resort to fertility treatment as a consequence of social changes, individual decisions and biological imperatives.