The Last Screenplay

Winner of the Best Low Budget Feature at the London Independent Film Festival 2026, Thomas Ward’s drama The Last Screenplay (aka The (first) Last Screenplay)ambitiously intertwines a character’s dementia with an influencer’s desperate attempts to get her movie edited. 

Jane Lee Jones plays Debbie, an influencer turned filmmaker who hopes to create a UK Hollywood by pushing out homegrown movies from her seemingly professional studios. However, among the faux glitz and glamour, a painful reality is emerging in the editing suite, where legendary editor Richard (Andrew Norman) is struggling to remember when he last ate, let alone how to piece together Debbie’s latest attempt at a movie (two never saw the light of day). What transpires is a crumbling sense of reality for Debbie, whose walls are closing in and her encounters with people on the lot are becoming increasingly volatile. 

Palpably mysterious, The Last Screenplay creates an unnerving atmosphere for the audience to dwell in as the central character attempts to “fix it in post”. Scenes and timelines seem to blend, mesh, and undermine each other, creating a fascinating, if frustrating, viewing experience. The obfuscation is so heavy-handed at times that audiences will be forgiven for feeling a little bewildered. 

The film makes candid criticisms about the movie and entertainment industry, as well as the place of Social Media in filmmaking. Ward seems determined to wag the finger in the face of many unfair aspects of the system, as well as the crippling impact it has on creatives. This fighting spirit gets brilliantly balanced with an emotional core in the characters of Debbie and Richard. Their scenes in the edit suite are laden with the bittersweet parallels of the loving care provided to someone experiencing memory loss.

The labyrinthine nature of the studios also enhances this state of neural disorientation. Debbie traverses the various rooms and studios of the location, only to find herself caught up in a confusing array of weird and baffling sequences. Her perplexity mirrors our own, and we attempt to piece the narrative together, much like an Editor would in post-production. 

Jane Lee Jones is phenomenal in the lead role, sucking the audience into her myriad challenges and pressures. Andrew Norman’s performance is also brilliant; his character’s passion for filmmaking is balanced beautifully with his frustration at forgetting things, culminating in a ferocious scene between the two leads that is not to be missed. 

Whilst the deception tactics of the filmmakers may alienate some audience members, and the gritty nuances of the filmmaking industry may be a little too niche, The Last Screenplan is a meritorious exploration of the human need to make sense of our timeline. The cruel impact of when this is robbed from us gets creatively executed here, and the sombre reflections will stay with viewers long after the credits roll.