Reactive

Year: 2025
Genre: Drama
Length: 14 min
Status: Festival Circuit

A Polish woman in the UK, feeling isolated and carrying a silent burden, finds unexpected strength in her role as the steadfast support for her husband, even as an emotional distance quietly deepens between them.

Director Statement

The idea first occurred to me several years ago during a jog in the park, as I listened to a podcast about unconventional love stories. I was deeply moved by the poignant tale of Arria Major and her husband, Aulus Caecina Paetus, a Roman senator in Ancient Rome. I found myself contemplating the unimaginable situation she must have endured – entering her husband’s bedroom with a smile on her face, all the while lying to shield him from the heartbreaking truth about their only child’s fate. The sacrifice of her grief, the quiet bravery in shouldering such a painful burden in isolation – what an extraordinary act of love.

Inspired by this, I reimagined the story in contemporary London, where I currently live, and transformed Arria’s character into Maria, a thirty-year-old Polish woman wholly devoted to her family.

This is my second short film exploring the lives of Eastern European women living in the UK – an experience I know intimately, having both witnessed and lived it myself. I believe these women remain one of the most underrepresented in television and film, and I am dedicated to changing that through my work.