Fanny Lye Deliver’d

WRITER/DIRECTOR THOMAS CLAY on his eerie, English Civil War-era psychological thriller.

The film’s opening scene, shot on location in Shropshire in early spring, sees two naked runaways cut through the misty thicket surrounding the Lye family farmhouse. “Mystery is key for the beginning of the film,” says Clay of the scene, which establishes Freddie Fox and Tanya Reynolds’ fugitives. The filmmaker — who shot on 35mm — called upon a “very old giraffe crane” that had

To watch Maxine Peake’s stoic heroine dutifully tend to her home is to behold Clay’s steadfast commitment to the Cromwellian era. Not only did he insist that the Lye family farmhouse be built especially for the film with the help of seven roof thatchers, but several historical experts were also brought in to consult on the shoot. “One was very good at costumes, which meant that most of the materials were authentic,” he says. “In the UK there’s also this re-enactment community committed to the English Civil War that’s full of people who are very dedicated to that world.”

“Throughout the film there’s this stand-off between John [Charles Dance] and Thomas [Fox] that shifts one way or the other. We’re setting that up in this scene,” says Clay of a merciful yet tense conversation between Fox’s Ranter (dissenter)-indisguise and Charles Dance’s master of the