SYNOPSIS: Boudica (Ella Peel) is a naive sixteen-year-old who is being forced into an arranged marriage by her oppressive father, Scavo (Simon Pengelly) the leader of their Celtic Tribe. Her mother Lucillia (Michelle McTernan) has tolerated her own loveless marriage for long enough however and tricks Boudica into fleeing the village with her to live in her secluded childhood home. Lucillia’s plan hits a snag however when they find a wounded youth Geminus (James Cooke) living at the old cottage. As they nurse Geminus back to health, Boudica gradually falls for the mysterious young man, but Lucillia doesn’t trust him and the trio’s new life is shrouded in lies and secrets. Meanwhile, an enraged Scavo scours the land for his missing family. It is only a matter of time before the past catches up with everyone and Boudica must transform from a girl into the warrior queen of legend in order to protect the lives of those she loves.
Taking inspired from the true story of a friend who fled an arranged marriage, I worked with writer/director Zoe Morgan on the story for Boudica: Rise of the Warrior Queen, which tells a fictionalised account of Boudica’s teenage years. It was fun to take the known elements of Boudica’s life story and look at how those pieces may have come together – the history of her clan, their fractious relationship with the Romans, how she met her future husband and the relationship she had with her Mother.
We had a very small budget for the film, but first-time director Zoe Morgan‘s background in theatre enabled her to draw some fantastic performances from the cast and DoP Charles Donnelly captured the stunning palette of oranges, yellows and reds that made up the autumnal forest setting. I oversaw the production and did some uncredited editing on the film to punch up some of the action scenes and tighten up the film overall.
