It Couldn’t Happen Here

Set against the late-20th-century British pop culture moment, the work fuses early music videos and iconic outfits with a surreal narrative. Its atmosphere echoes the mid- to late-1980s mood—urban nightlife, seaside holidays, and media satire—while weaving in period references to technology and pop stars. The time period grounds the juxtaposition of innocence with existential musings.

The film unfolds across a coastal English town and its transport hubs. Most scenes are set on Clacton-on-Sea's beach, promenade and pier, with interludes in a bed-and-breakfast and a seaside cafe. The journey then moves to Paddington Station and a nightclub, reflecting a surreal voyage through Britain’s leisure and travel landscape.

🎭 Identity

The film layers public personas and private selves, with Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe appearing as themselves within a constructed narrative. Performance and image are central as pop icons navigate a world that blurs reality and fiction. The repeated role-swapping and cameos probe how identity can be a fluid, manufactured construct.

⏳ Time

Time is treated as a mutable force—philosophical musings on time, the ventriloquist dummy’s existential questions, and the journey through locations create a sense of time looping. The narrative juxtaposes youth’s appearance with aged social commentary, moving from dawn to night in a single voyage. The idea of time underpins the surreal, dreamlike tone.

🎵 Pop Culture

The film is saturated with contemporary songs and media motifs of the 1980s, using them to critique consumerism and celebrity. Visuals are constructed like a music video, with dancing sequences, cross-cutting imagery and stagey humor. It comments on how pop music both reflects and shapes public consciousness.