Hannah Walter Russell in “Thread Tension”

Hannah Walter Russell plays Judy in “Thread Tension” from the London Film School. 

A sweatshop somewhere in England, 1987. A crowd of women line up to be let inside, answering the same questions every morning: Any recent bouts of dizziness? Any new cuts, bruises, bite marks? New unsettling dreams or nightmares?

With eyes on their profits, the Foreman is desperate to clamp down on the mysterious phenomenon that’s been spreading amongst the women: full body possessions.

Instead, the increasingly oppressive work environment puts three women on a collision course: Maggie, a would-be agitator who believes in solidarity but not the supernatural; Wanda, a respected worker just trying to get by for her family; and Judy, a meek young woman susceptible to the strange forces overtaking the factory.

When a failed attempt to cover-up Judy’s latest fit leaves Maggie unemployed, the women learn to harness the mass hysteria into something management finds more terrifying than the supernatural — a strike.

Written and directed by Ruby Mastrodimos, the film is currently on the film festival circuit where is was awarded Best Student Film in the Fall 2023 competition by Montreal Independent Film Magazine.