Short Film
Written and Directed by Zara Johnston
Produced by Esme Michaela
A dark comedy about inherited decay, uncomfortable truths, and the absurd ways we try to heal what’s long since gone rotten. After a family tragedy, a mother and daughter are forced to confront the rot at the core of their relationship.
After a family tragedy, a mother and daughter are forced to confront the rot at the core of
their relationship.
As grief peels back layers of denial, they begin to see how that same rot has seeped into their bodies, their health, and their sense of self.
A dark comedy about inherited decay, uncomfortable truths, and the absurd ways we try to heal what’s long since gone rotten.
We were accepted into the 2025 Kino Jersey scheme, run by the 13th Parish Festival in association with ArtHouse Jersey and Off-Courts Trouville.
Thanks to this workshop we spent a beautiful week on Jersey shooting and editing two thirds of Rotten Fruits.
We will be shooting the final part of the short film in Kent summer 2026.
Photography by Max Young
1.5 million women and those assigned female at birth have endometriosis in the UK, whilst 3.5 million women have polycystic ovary syndrome.
There are 7,500 new ovarian cancer diagnoses each year and 17% of ovary owners experience ovarian cysts. Yet due to a lack of education and in turn, a lack of conversation, many menstruators believe their symptoms are normal and therefore suffer in silence.
Rotten Fruits wants to break down these barriers and encourage this conservation.
How one actor and producer is using stage and screen to say the things doctors, workplaces, and families still won’t.
[...] Rotten Fruits follows a mother and daughter and their fractured relationships with their own bodies, and with each other. Esme is careful about what the title is doing double duty for.
“It says two things,” she explains. “It’s rotten fruits, as in the rot between the mum and daughter’s relationship and their generational shame — you know, like apples; an apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. But then also, the female genitalia is often compared to a wide variety of fruits, and I’ve seen so much imagery of mouldy pomegranates leaking period blood. So for me it also says their health is rotten, both characters, and they don’t really know it.”
At its core, she calls the play “a cautionary tale of the importance of listening to ourselves, and not inheriting generational shame.” [...]
Starring Esme Michaela & Denise Wilton
Written and Directed by Zara Johnston
Produced by Esme Michaela
Assistant Producer Millie Coe
Casting by Izzy Wheatland
Based on characters by Zara Johnston, Esme Michaela & Alyssia Thorn
Made in association with 13th Parish Festival and ArtHouse Jersey
Currently in production
Stage Play
This project will be told across the mediums of short film and a one-act stage play. Exploring both art forms allows us to delve deeper into these characters and their experiences traversing through ovarian and menstrual health issues.
We workshopped the first 15 minutes of the stage play at the Libra Theatre in Camden in the summer of 2024 starring Denise Wilton and Esme Michaela.