Hidden City

Set in contemporary London, the narrative relies on current urban infrastructure and government institutions. The pursuit of the mysterious film traverses public archives and restricted locations, creating a tense, modern atmosphere. The tone implies a late 20th to early 21st-century reality where information control and archival secrecy remain pressing concerns.

The story unfolds across a modern London landscape, moving from a tram depot and a hidden archive beneath Oxford Street to a landfill site and an Edmonton incinerator. It weaves together everyday urban spaces with hidden powers, suggesting a city where official secrecy bleeds into daily life. The setting highlights bureaucratic corridors and public spaces that double as sites of discovery and danger.

🔍 Secrecy

Powerful institutions safeguard hidden histories, and the film shows how official secrecy can obscure truth. The protagonists chase a fragile clue through archives, film reels, and bureaucratic barriers, illustrating how documents can be weaponized. The mystery deepens as the reel hints at broader cover-ups and hushed incidents.

🧭 Investigation

The missing/mysterious reel drives the narrative, forcing the leads to scrutinize sources, interrogate witnesses, and navigate coded archives. James and Sharon rely on credentials and street-level persistence to uncover fragments of a larger, concealed project. The process blurs the line between documentary truth and fabricated illusion.

🎭 Reality

What appears on screen is a layered interplay of reality and fiction, where a film within the film reveals another truth beneath. The fragments suggest a government program Magnificat and a nuclear incident, hinting at manipulated memory and myth-making. The finale questions whether truth can exist independently from the act of filming and viewing.