LIFE GOES ON: Darkly Comic Hospice Short Oscar-Qualified for the 99th Academy Awards® and BAFTA-Qualifying

David Bradley Leads a Time-Loop Story Exploring Ageing, Mortality and Human Connection

The darkly comic short film LIFE GOES ON, written and directed by Daniel Audritt and Kat Butterfield, has officially qualified for consideration for the 99th Academy Awards® and BAFTA, marking a significant milestone for the British filmmaking duo with their debut short film.

Set within a hospice and structured around a repeating day, LIFE GOES ON follows Bill, a hospice patient forced to relive the same day over and over again. As he confronts routine, isolation, regret and the inevitability of death, the film explores the unexpected ways people find joy and connection when time is running out.

Drawing on Butterfield’s own experiences working at a Lancashire-based hospice, LIFE GOES ON approaches end-of-life care through humour, vulnerability and emotional honesty. Its time-loop structure provides a distinctive framework for exploring ageing and mortality, while asking what it means to make the most of the time we have.

Leading the cast is BAFTA and Olivier Award-winning actor David Bradley as Bill. One of Britain’s most respected screen and stage actors, Bradley is internationally recognised for his roles as Argus Filch in the Harry Potter film series and Walder Frey in Game of Thrones, alongside performances in After Life, Hot Fuzz, Doctor Who and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. His performance in Broadchurch earned him the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor, and he most recently appeared alongside Jacob Elordi in Guillermo del Toro’s BAFTA and Academy Award-winning Frankenstein.

Joining Bradley is acclaimed actress Maggie Steed, whose credits include Chewing Gum, Flack, Ten Percent, Paddington 2, Fisherman’s Friends and Silent Witness. The film also features BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated actor and comedian Matt Berry, known internationally for What We Do in the Shadows, Toast of London, The IT Crowd, Fallout and Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace. The ensemble includes Tony Award nominee Amanda Root, Mark Davison, Paul G Raymond, Jayne Aguire, Joe Da Costa, Brona C Titley, Ninette Finch and Laura Checkley.

Writers-directors Daniel Audritt and Kat Butterfield are a UK-based creative duo known for bold British comedy grounded in emotional storytelling. Their Comedy Central sketch series Modern Horror Stories and viral comedy work have amassed more than 500 million views worldwide, with projects broadcast on BBC One and NBC America. Previously nominated for Debut Writer at the Edinburgh TV Festival New Voice Awards, they have written for talent including Anna Kendrick, Emma Thompson, Paul Rudd, and the casts of Stranger Things and Derry Girls.

LIFE GOES ON marks their first short film and was entirely self-financed using inheritances left by family members who both lived to 100 years old. This deeply personal connection informed the film’s exploration of ageing, family, mortality and legacy, transforming a personal experience into a story with universal resonance.

Executive Producer Andrew Carlberg, named by Variety as one of Hollywood’s “New Leaders,” is an Academy Award and Emmy Award-winning producer whose credits include the Academy Award-winning short Skin, Academy Award nominee Feeling Through, Emmy-winning Lalito 10 and North Star, starring Colman Domingo, Laura Innes and Kevin Bacon.

Following its World Premiere at the Dallas International Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize for Best International Short Film, its UK Premiere at Raindance, its selection as one of the top 10 films at Hollyshorts and its Oscar qualifying selection into the prestigious Manhattan Short festival, LIFE GOES ON enters the awards season as an Oscar and BAFTA-qualifying short film.

Blending dark comedy, genre storytelling and an intimate exploration of mortality, LIFE GOES ON demonstrates how humour can create space for some of life’s most difficult conversations. Its Oscar qualification and BAFTA-qualifying status mark an important next chapter for Audritt and Butterfield, bringing their deeply personal debut short to audiences and awards voters on both sides of the Atlantic.