film

Director Sacha Polak first worked with Vicky Knight on 2019's Dirty God, in which Knight - then a first-time actor - bravely and brilliantly played a young woman recovering from a horrific acid attack by her former boyfriend. Bravely because Knight is herself a survivor of a pub fire in 2003, when she was eight years old, in which she sustained lifelong physical and mental scarring. She has spoken movingly about life and career since, saying: “I’ve hidden my scars for 15 years, and I’ve been called a monster for 15 years”.

Polak and Knight reunited for this film, 2023's Silver Haze, another powerful tale of trauma, hope and damaged lives. Franky (Knight) is a young nurse who has grown up with scars from a fire she survived as a child, and Silver Haze follows her as she seeks justice and closure. It's a tough watch at times, but the warmth and joy of the relationship between Franky and a troubled patient called Florence (Esmé Creed-Miles) makes Silver Haze an ultimately redemptive experience.