Future Acts
★★★★☆ Pleasingly varied
Filmhouse: Sat 3 Oct 2026
Review by Hugh Simpson
Future Acts is an intriguing programme of future-facing short films commissioned by the National Theatre of Scotland, playing in a short run of one-off performances in cinemas across the country before airing on BBC digital platforms next year.
Marking 20 years of the NTS, the six films have been produced in association with Shakehaus productions, in partnership with BBC Scotland and supported by The Weir Charitable Trust.
Future Acts – Un-Static. Pic: Julie Howden.
The theme of ‘the future’ has been interpreted in different ways by the makers of the various films, who include many familiar names from Scottish theatre. The stipulation was that each film lasted no more than ten minutes, featured a maximum of two actors, had one day for rehearsal and one day for filming in one location, and a week for post-production.
Having predominantly theatre folk make short films sometimes leads to an artificiality, and to an uneasy combination of theatre, film and television, and while there is the odd hint of that across the films they generally work very well.
The different approaches leads to a refreshing variety of genres. However, there is a coincidental convergence across several of the films in many ways, with a lightness of touch that leads almost to playfulness even as serious topics are being explored.
anxiety
It is for this reason that Smoke particularly stands out in the middle of the programme, as it is so different in tone and execution. Kieran Hurley’s script is effectively poetic, elliptical in construction yet utterly direct in its treatment of the climate emergency and anxiety in the face of a breaking world.
The words are spoken in voiceover by Shirley Manson as Nicolette McCormack performs a tremendous dance piece choreographed by the film’s director Rianne White. The direction mirrors the words, with some more abstract shots set against striking footage of McCormack moving over the seats in an empty theatre.
Future Acts – Smoke. Pic: Sally Jubb.
Similarly impressive but utterly different in tone is Bed To The Future, written and directed by James Ley and starring Martin Quinn and Jay Newton as a couple who take advantage of a bed shop’s offer to whisk them ten years into the future (as you do). It’s a daffy and deceptively sharp piece of ultra-low-budget sci-fi whose homespun charm is exemplified by the use of a robot vacuum cleaner as the sales assistant.
Broth, written by Lesley Hart and directed by Sally Reid, is a touching and sure-footed piece about an unusual connection between Carmen Pieraccini’s failed news anchor and Ryan J Mackay’s in-awe cameraman.
Broth’s hint of magic realism is echoed in the surrealism of Un-Static with Maureen Carr and James Dawoud, where Josefa Celestin directs Natali McCleary’s script about a decidedly Scottish unicorn summoned to answer a young man’s questions about identity.
economical and punchy
Optimum has Ross Mann and Anna Russell-Martin as a couple brought together by an apparently infallible dating app, and is written by Uma Nada-Rajah and directed by Stewart Laing.
Still Alive, written and directed by Hope Dickson Leach, has Nadia Albina and Keith Fleming in a salutary tale of future medicine and a billionaire’s dream of prolonging his life. Brooding, atmospheric and cinematic, this is another very impressive short film.
A couple of the pieces are somewhat stagey, and at least one has an occasionally over-assertive style attempting to compensate for its lack of visual impact. Taken as a whole, however, the pieces are economical and punchy, even without considering the constraints under which they were made.
They will eventually be up on BBC iPlayer, and while they may lose something in being watched on a phone or laptop, they will still be intelligent, politically informed films that are also distinctly Scottish without making any song and dance about it.
Running time: One hour + Q&A (no interval).
Filmhouse, 88 Lothian Rd, EH3 9BZ.
Saturday 3 October 2026.
One screening: 3.15pm.
Run ended but the films can be seen in Inverness on Monday 5 Oct and in Ayr on Tues 7 Oct, and ill be on BBC iPlayer in January 2027.
Details: See NTS website here.
Eden Court, Bishops Road, Inverness, IV3 5SA.
Monday 5 October 2026.
One screening: 7pm.
Post-screening Q&A with James Ley and Lesley Hart.
Details: Book here.
Astoria Cinema, Burns Statue Square, Strathclyde, Ayr KA7 1UP.
Tuesday 6 October 2026.
One screening: 7.30pm.
Post-screening Q&A with Uma Nada-Rajah and Carmen Pieraccini.
Details: Book here.
Future Acts – Bed to the Future – Pic: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan.
ENDS
