Daniel Ings and Jessica Brown Findlay in a dramatic scene together.
Daniel Ings (Star Wars: Starfighter, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, The Gentlemen) will co-star alongside Jessica Brown Findlay (Peaky Blinders, Downton Abbey) in The Two Week Wait. The short film marks the directorial debut of actress-turned-filmmaker Olivia Grant.
Daniel Ings and Jessica Brown Findlay in a dramatic scene together.
Navigating the Strains of IVF
The story follows a woman in her late thirties, played by Brown Findlay, as she endures deteriorating mental health and dissociative episodes while undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). Ings steps into the role of her well-meaning but ultimately incompetent boyfriend.
The supporting cast features Fenella Woolgar (Call the Midwife), Rick Warden (Happy Valley), and Sophie Colquhoun (Captain America).
Grant wrote the script and is co-producing the project through her newly launched Cavalry Films banner. She partnered with Symphony Films, headed by actor-producers Rebecca Night (Wuthering Heights) and Harry Hadden-Paton (The Crown). The film will premiere on Tuesday at the Indy Shorts Film Festival.
A Script Born from Personal Trauma
Grant, whose acting credits include Stardust, Lark Rise to Candleford, and Indian Summers, drew heavily on her own life to develop the film. She noted that pandemic lockdowns finally provided the time to write, coinciding directly with the heavy mental toll of her own IVF treatments.
“As a way to hold on to my sanity, I ended up writing a 30,000-word diary documenting the rollercoaster of grappling with my infertility,” Grant revealed. She transcribed genuine arguments with her husband, attempting to capture the intense dissociation and uniquely gendered dynamics of the fertility process.
Once pandemic restrictions lifted, Grant realized her private anguish was remarkably common. Connecting with other women revealed that the deep shame and interpersonal strain caused by infertility were universal experiences that demanded screen time.
Expanding into a Feature Film
The Two Week Wait serves as a proof of concept for a full-length narrative feature titled Baby Mine, which is currently slated for a 2027 release. Ings, Brown Findlay, and casting director Amy Hubbard are already attached to the expanded project.
Ings praised Grant’s transition to the director’s chair, calling her a singular new voice in British cinema. “Getting to work with her, Nanu Segal, and Jessica Brown Findlay on this beautiful film was an embarrassment of creative riches,” Ings stated.
Night echoed that sentiment, describing Grant’s screenplay as instantly unique and compelling. She noted that the story examines the profound choices and struggles of human connection, ultimately delivering a narrative that is both witty and heart-wrenching.
