‘Enola Holmes’ Star Susan Wokoma, ‘Harry Potter’ Alum Jessie Cave to Lead ‘Curse in a Frame,’ Inspired by Viral True Story About ‘Haunted’ Painting (EXCLUSIVE)
Susan Wokoma and Jessie Cave star in 'Curse in a Frame,' a British horror-comedy film inspired by a viral 2023 story about a supposedly haunted painting bought and returned twice from a Hastings charity shop. The feature, directed by Maria Pawlikowska, blends satire, horror, and folklore, exploring belief and ambition as a local mystery spirals into global obsession. Filming has wrapped in Hastings, and the movie is now in post-production. The project is a co-production between New State Pictures and Invisible String Pictures.
- ▪'Curse in a Frame' is the feature directorial debut of Maria Pawlikowska, who co-wrote the script with Tom Woffenden.
- ▪The film stars Susan Wokoma, Jessie Cave, and newcomer Velvet Brown, with supporting roles by Kaja Chan, Michael Kinsey, and Michael Brandon.
- ▪It is inspired by a real 2023 incident in Hastings where a portrait of a young girl was reportedly returned twice due to alleged supernatural effects.
- ▪Producers describe the film as a sharp, contemporary genre piece that mixes comedy, horror, and satire within a distinctly British setting.
- ▪The movie is currently in post-production and marks Jessie Cave’s return to film after nearly a decade.
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Home Film Global Apr 28, 2026 6:10am PT ‘Enola Holmes’ Star Susan Wokoma, ‘Harry Potter’ Alum Jessie Cave to Lead ‘Curse in a Frame,’ Inspired by Viral True Story About ‘Haunted’ Painting (EXCLUSIVE) By Alex Ritman Plus Icon Alex Ritman @alexritman Latest Guy Pearce Conspiracy Thriller ‘The Marshal’ to Lead Epic Pictures’ Cannes Slate as First Look Revealed (EXCLUSIVE) 16 minutes ago ‘Enola Holmes’ Star Susan Wokoma, ‘Harry Potter’ Alum Jessie Cave to Lead ‘Curse in a Frame,’ Inspired by Viral True Story About ‘Haunted’ Painting (EXCLUSIVE) 51 minutes ago Sophie Thatcher, Erin Kellyman and Joe Alywn to Star in Witch Hunt Action-Thriller ‘Cavendish,’ Cornerstone Launching in Cannes 23 hours ago See All Images supplied by New State Pictures A real-life story about a supposedly cursed painting has inspired an upcoming U.K. feature that has recently wrapped filming in the British seaside town of Hastings. “Curse in a Frame” — from New State Pictures and the feature debut of writer-director Maria Pawlikowska — is being led by Susan Wokoma, best known for “Enola Holmes” and soon starring in Greta Gerwig’s upcoming “Narnia,” Jessie Cave, who famously played Lavender Brown in the “Harry Potter” franchise (and marking her return to film for the first time in almost a decade), and newcomer Velvet Brown (“Troubleshooting”). Kaja Chan (“Split Fiction”) Michael Kinsey (“Three Day Millionaire”) and Michael Brandon (“Dempsey and Makepeace”) also star. blogherads.adq.push(function () { blogherads .defineSlot( 'medrec', 'gpt-variety-article-mid-article-uid0' ) .setTargeting( 'pos', ["mid-article1","mid-articleX","mid","mid-article"] ) .setTargeting( 'viewable', 'yes' ) .setSubAdUnitPath("ros\/mid-article") .addSize([[300,250],[2,2],[300,251],[2,4],[4,2],[320,480],[620,366]]) .setClsOptimization("minsize") ; }); Related Stories From Local Producer to Global Player: How Chile's Fabula Scaled Across Borders Noah Kahan on Exploring Mental Health Issues With 'Out of Body' Netflix Doc: 'If One Person Watches This and Confronts Something Within Themselves, It's Worth the Discomfort' Blending comedy, horror and satire, the film takes its cue from a story that went viral in 2023 about a portrait of a young girl discovered in a Hasting charity shop and was “bought twice and returned twice after having ruined the lives of its owners.” One of the owners told U.K. TV that she believed it was “haunted,” with strange events happening to her — and her mother — soon after she bought it. Popular on Variety if ( !window.pmc.harmony?.isEventAdScheduledTime() ) { pmcCnx.cmd.push(function() { pmcCnx({ settings: { plugins: { pmcAtlasMG: { iabPlcmt: 2, } } }, playerId: 'fdaee7b3-292f-4a85-89bb-29a56b567de3', playlistId: '073c6e70-0010-4b87-92d0-d891f87f5cd8', }).render("connatix_contextual_player_div"); }); } else { // This should only be get called when page cache is not cleared and it's event time. window.pmc.harmony?.switchToHarmonyPlayer(); } Set against the local folklore and eerie coastal atmosphere of Hastings, “Curse in a Frame” takes the story and adapts it into what the filmmakers describe as a “sharp contemporary feature about belief, ambition, friendship — and the chaos that unfolds when a local story becomes an international obsession.” “What drew us to ‘Curse in a Frame’ was its originality and the fact that the story already arrived in the culture with its own mythology,” said producer Ana Emdin. “It was funny, unsettling, and very contagious. Working with…
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