Naomi Ackie (Sorry Baby, Mickey 17) and Alison Oliver (Wuthering Heights, Saltburn) have recently wrapped up filming for Luna Carmoon's sophomore feature, To Make Ends Meat. Joining them are Éanna Hardwicke (Saipan, The Sixth Commandment) and Armande Boulanger (The Returned, Eiffel). This film follows the stories of three women - all burdened by the debt they owe to despicable men and their own pasts - who must negotiate their way to survival using the only language these men seem to understand: consumption and violence. Goodfellas is handling international sales and will premiere the film at Cannes, with True Brit acquiring distribution rights for the U.K. and Ireland.
To Make Ends Meat is the second film by the British director-writer, shot in her hometown of London. Her debut film, Hoard, premiered at Venice Critics' Week in 2023 and won three prizes. The movie went on to receive international distribution and landed Carmoon a BAFTA nomination for outstanding debut in 2025.
"This film has come from the depths of my soul, tarred with the experiences of my family," said Carmoon. "From my grandmother's stories at Newington Lodge to my mother Toni and the cleaning houses she took me to where darker things lingered, to teddies and chicken farms. So much of my family and our memories seep deeper than you'd think. I cannot think of a more prevalent time than now to paint and stitch and weave these stories to screen. It is my rage that has fueled this. The weatherings of being a woman and how you are cannibalized by systems, by men, women, and then by debts we sometimes write ourselves into because we believe we deserve it."
"This has been made with all my blood, figuratively and physically," added Carmoon. "I hope it will rupture, splinter, and cry out to us all when it is stitched together."
To Make Ends Meat reunites Carmoon with Hoard producers Helen Simmons (Erebus Pictures) and Loran Dunn (Delaval Film), with Cheri Darbon and Chloe Culpin as co-producers. Hélène Louvart (La Chimera, Rocks) serves as Director of Photography. Financing comes from BBC Film, BFI (awarding National Lottery funding), True Brit, Goodfellas, Mother, ProdCo, Arts Alliance, Affine Films, Cofiloisirs, and Blush Film.
