Lily returns to her flatshare after spending a few weeks in a mental health hospital. Ruth is a homeless street poet. Monica is a single mother who lives in a hotel. As the day unfolds, their stories become inextricably intertwined.

Cast

Lily
Shirley Both
Lola
Alexandra Smith
Isis
Domino Soko
Truth Ruth
Tstarnay X
Monica
Tash Alex
Landlord
Ian Reddington
Icilda
Pierre Anisimov
Agent
Michelle Coverley
Mum
Katharina Naumow
Modern Women - Poster 1

Modern Women

Hugo Santa Cruz

  • Fiction
Production Country / Year
United Kingdom 2025
Language
engl., frz. OF m. dt., engl. UT
Format
Digital file, Color, 68min
1.78:1 (16:9), Discrete 5.1

Director & Crew

Hugo Santa Cruz 1

Hugo Santa Cruz

Born in 1980 in Madrid/Spain. Studied Linguistics and was a touring musician for DJ Hell’s label in Munich. Active as a writer, director, producer, editor and music composer.

Filmography

2023 The Fifth Generation Spielfilm
2025 Modern Women Spielfilm 2025

“This heavily satirical comedy finalizes my unplanned trilogy of narrative and experimental punk rock features on Brexit, climate activism, and now the housing crisis. MODERN WOMEN’s meta-modernist three-storyline structure allowed me to explore the themes of power, brutality, and exploitation (what else should films be about these days?) from three different perspectives, with each perspective bringing its own stylistic nuance. The storyline of the Truth Ruth character, ‘the street poet’, works as a documentary. Monica’s ‘single mother’ storyline is a cinema verité drama. And finally, the ‘Lily, Lola & Isis’ storyline, being that of the three bourgeois girls who find out they’re getting kicked out of their hipster flat, is presented as an all-out formalist satire with a touch of surrealism. Adjectives and definitions aside, there is emotion in MODERN WOMEN. A lot of emotion; otherwise, the film wouldn’t be here. Though partly due to a script that took two years to write, it is mainly thanks to our wonderful cast of thespians. Come and see this MODERN WOMEN, and men!”

Writer
Hugo Santa Cruz
Director of Photography
Moja
Editor
Franz Walsch Jr
Production Designer
Elle Menda
Costume Designer
Yoko Sosinapuro
Sound
Atom Inions Morton
Make-up
Cecilia Limonta
Producer
Hugo Santa Cruz
Michelle Coverley