Susan Wokoma and Jessie Cave are stepping into the world of the supernatural for a new UK feature that blurs the line between folklore, viral internet lore, and psychological chaos.
The pair lead Curse in a Frame, an upcoming genre-bending film from New State Pictures that recently wrapped production in the coastal town of Hastings. The project marks the feature debut of writer-director Maria Pawlikowska and is now heading into post-production.
At the center of Curse in a Frame is a story inspired by a viral 2023 account involving a portrait of a young girl discovered in a Hastings charity shop. According to reports that circulated widely online at the time, the painting was allegedly purchased twice and returned twice after each owner claimed unsettling and disruptive events followed them home. One owner even described believing the piece was “haunted,” sparking a wave of fascination across U.K. media and social platforms.
Alongside Wokoma and Cave, the cast includes Velvet Brown, Kaja Chan, Michael Kinsey, and Michael Brandon. The film takes that premise and stretches it into something far more layered—mixing comedy, horror, and satire against the backdrop of a small seaside town steeped in local legend. Rather than treating the story as straightforward horror, the film leans into how quickly modern myth can form, spread, and spiral.
According to the filmmakers, Curse in a Frame explores themes of belief, ambition, friendship, and the consequences of turning local mystery into global obsession. It positions the painting not just as a cursed object, but as a catalyst for the way stories evolve once they enter the internet ecosystem.
Producer Ana Emdin described the project as something that naturally arrived with its own mythology already attached, noting how the creative team expanded that foundation into something “stranger and more expansive.” Fellow producer Yan Fisher emphasized its international appeal, calling it a distinctly British story with a tone and premise built to travel.
Director Maria Pawlikowska, working from a script she co-wrote with Tom Woffenden, has framed the film as a collision between contemporary life and older, almost mythic storytelling traditions—using that tension to drive both character and genre shifts throughout.
With production now complete, Curse in a Frame moves into post-production as it shapes up to be a darkly playful take on how quickly a local oddity can become something much bigger once the world starts watching.
Wokoma, known for Enola Holmes and set to appear in Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Narnia adaptation, continues to build a steady run across both film and prestige television. Cave, best recognized for her role as Lavender Brown in the Harry Potter franchise, returns to film after nearly a decade away from the medium.