In the Bleak Midwinter

“The drama. The passion. The intrigue... And the rehearsals haven't even started.”

Out of work actor Joe (Michael Maloney) takes on a plan to save his sister's local church by staging Hamlet there at Christmas, against the advice of his agent Margaretta (Joan Collins). The cast he gathers can only offer a profit-sharing deal, which means they may not get paid at all. Kenneth Branagh's film is about people who show up for a shaky, unpaid job in the village of Hope because the work itself is what holds them together.