''Powder Room'' is a 2013 British

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

MJ Delaney MJ Delaney is a British director. She is known for her work on ''Ted Lasso'', for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award in 2022. Career Delaney was born in London and graduated from Oxford University in 2007. She found early success in 2010 by ...

and written by Rachel Hirons. It is based on the stage play ''When Women Wee'' scripted by Hirons, devised by Natasha Sparkes, Stephanie Jay, Emily Wallis, Amirah Garba, Amy Revelle, Stef O'Driscoll, and Jennifer Davies. The film stars

Sheridan Smith Sheridan Caroline Sian Smith OBE (born 25 June 1981) is an English actress, singer and television personality. Smith came to prominence after playing a variety of characters on sitcoms such as ''The Royle Family'' (1999–2000), ''Two Pints o ...

Jaime Winstone Jaime Margaret Winstone (born 6 May 1985) is an English actress, best known for her roles in ''Kidulthood'', ''Dead Set'', '' After Hours'' and her portrayal of Barbara Windsor in ''Babs''. Early life and education Winstone was born in Camden ...

Kate Nash Kate Marie Nash (born 6 July 1987) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. Nash launched her music career in 2005. Her 2007 single " Foundations" became a hit and brought her to public attention in the UK. Her debut album, '' Made of Bricks ...

, and

Oona Castilla Chaplin Oona Castilla Chaplin (; born 4 June 1986) is a Spanish-Swiss actress. Her roles include Talisa Maegyr in the HBO TV series '' Game of Thrones'', Kitty Trevelyan in the BBC drama '' The Crimson Field'', and Zilpha Geary in the series ''Taboo ...

Plot

The comedy follows Sam, as her life is turned upside down on a big night out. When reunited with her old college friends, Sam is forced to re-evaluate her life and constructs an elaborate

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...

in order to convince herself and her friends that she has it all. But once her dysfunctional yet devoted trio of best mates intervene, her carefully crafted charade begins to crumble amidst the shots, cigarettes, ciders and toilet transgressions. Faced with some very harsh realities, Sam must struggle to remain true to herself and reassess exactly what she wants from life. The film tells its story in a series of

vignette Vignette may refer to: * Vignette (entertainment), a sketch in a sketch comedy * Vignette (graphic design), decorative designs in books (originally in the form of leaves and vines) to separate sections or chapters * Vignette (literature), short, i ...

s showing conversations held in the powder room of a nightclub. The story was partly inspired by a clubbing trip on which Hirons overheard two women talking candidly about

anal sex Anal sex or anal intercourse is generally the insertion and thrusting of the erect penis into a person's anus, or anus and rectum, for sexual pleasure.Sepages 270–271for anal sex information, anpage 118for information about the clitoris. ...

in a cubicle of a women's toilet.

Cast

as Sam *

as Chanel *

as Michelle *

Oona Chaplin Oona Castilla Chaplin (; born 4 June 1986) is a Spanish-Swiss actress. Her roles include Talisa Maegyr in the HBO TV series ''Game of Thrones'', Kitty Trevelyan in the BBC drama ''The Crimson Field'', and Zilpha Geary in the series ''Taboo''. ...

as Jess *

Riann Steele Riann Steele is an American/English actress. Biography After studying at Arts Educational Schools, London, she appeared in various Royal Shakespeare Company productions, including '' A Midsummer Night's Dream'', ''Love's Labours Lost'' and ''Ha ...

as Paige * Alice Sanders as Mel * Sarah Hoare as Saskia * Johnnie Fiori as Toilet attendant *

Micah Balfour Micah Balfour (born 18 July 1978) is an English actor. He played PC Benjamin Gayle in the ITV police drama ''The Bill'' from 2007 to 2010. Before ''The Bill'', Balfour worked on ''Absolute Beginners'' at Lyric Theatre (Hammersmith), The Lyric ...

as James * Alex Warren as Sean * Zara White as Stacey *

Antonia Bernath Antonia Geraldine Audrey Lee Bernath (born 1980/1981) is an English actress, voiceover artist and singer. She began her career in the CBS series ''Elvis'' (2005) and the Bollywood film '' Kisna: The Warrior Poet'' (2005). She then starred in the ...

as Kim * Jodi Halpin as Linzi *

Bunmi Mojekwu Bunmi Adaeze Mojekwu is an English actress, known for portraying the role of Mercy Olubunmi in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders''. Early life Mojekwu was born in Brixton, South London, to Nigerian parents. She is the eldest of four children. I ...

as Louise *

Lashana Lynch Lashana Lynch (born 27 November 1987) is a British actress. She is best known for playing the role of Rosaline Capulet in the ABC period drama series '' Still Star-Crossed'' (2017), Maria Rambeau in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films '' C ...

as Laura *

Elarica Gallacher Elarica Johnson (; born 21 August 1989) is an English actress and model, best known for playing Hailey (aka Autumn Night) in ''P-Valley.'' Johnson also starred in ''A Discovery of Witches'', in which she played Juliette Durand. She played Kylie ...

as Jenny * Stephanie Jay as Alex * Natasha Sparkes as Bunny * Emily Wallis as Helena

Production

Damian Jones decided to take the play from stage to screen after watching the cast of five young actresses Emily Wallis, Amirah Garba, Stephanie Jay, Natasha Sparkes, and Amy Revelle on stage at The Soho Theatre, playing up to six different characters each in various sketches in the provocative comedy, which had transferred from The

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

commenced on 29 November 2012 at

3 Mills Studios 3 Mills Studios is a centre for film, television and theatre production near Stratford, London, Stratford in East London. The site of a former distillery in Three Mills became a dedicated centre for television and film production work with the est ...

in London, and was also filmed in locations in

Holloway, London Holloway is an inner-city district of the London Borough of Islington, north of Charing Cross, which follows the line of the Holloway Road ( A1). At the centre of Holloway is the Nag's Head commercial area which sits between the more residentia ...

Music

Music for the film was curated by the all-female, five-piece rock band, Fake Club. The band appeared in the film, performing music of their own writing, including some songs created specifically for the film. Fake Club members were also responsible for the selection of all other tracks used in the film. The soundtrack also features the track 'Pretty Colours' by London-based, Swedish band FRANCOBOLLO which first appeared in their debut e.p HARPHOLMA.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Powder Room 2013 films 2010s female buddy films 2010s buddy comedy films 2013 independent films British buddy comedy films British female buddy films British independent films 2010s English-language films Vertigo Films films British films based on plays Films shot in London 2013 comedy films 2010s British films