Against Your Nature is a dystopian queer drama set in the very near future after a new pandemic wipes out the majority of the population. The film tells a story of overcoming insecurity and finding intimacy and warmth in a world that has grown cold. Fundamentally, it asks one question: “Would you do something against your own nature in the name of love?”

We’re Prince and Pilgrim Productions, a film production company with the mission to tell unique and emotionally resonant stories, mostly in the realms of science fiction and fantasy.

Against Your Nature is a very personal project for us and we’re looking for your support to bring this story to life.

Cornwall, 2032. After a deadly pandemic wipes out the majority of the global population, the modern world is left paralysed. What little is left of humanity is forced to struggle under unstable governments, and a rural, self-sufficient life is the only option to maintain a semblance of normality.

This is where we meet Sara and Rachel, our protagonists. A letter informs them that their government is introducing regulations forcing all immune couples to reproduce, and that as a same-sex couple, they will be provided with a biological partner of their choice.

This revelation begins a complex journey for Sara in particular, who finds herself struggling with her insecurity: Rachel is attracted to men as well as women, while Sara is not. The friction between their sexualities and different worldviews unravels their peaceful home life, and this conflict becomes the heart of the story.

Will their love survive these impossible circumstances?

While London-based Prince and Pilgrim Productions is the lead company backing Against Your Nature, the project is the fruit of a creative partnership with Sequitur Pictures as well as Falmouth University in Cornwall. It is this combined network of talented creatives that will help bring Against Your Nature to life, and an extraordinary core team has already been assembled.

What we see as the heart of Against Your Nature is the concept of human warmth in a cold world. Sara and Rachel’s peaceful home life is in complete opposition to the desolation outside, and that contrast really drives all creative choices for the short. For instance, as long as their peace stays intact, the plan is to use a soft, warm 16mm film look, with lots of close-ups and shallow depth of field.

When the outside world barges in and breaks that peace, these choices would instead be reversed, creating a colder, detached, more clinical feel. Though the focus is more on the intimate relationship between the characters, it’s essential to set the story in a believable, slightly rundown and desolate near future.

The world of Against Your Nature shares with rural Cornwall both its rhythm and its sparsity, though what’s shown in the story is of course only a bleak adaptation of Cornwall’s beauty. Shooting in the region is a wonderful way to bring authenticity into the film, while also supporting decentralisation efforts in the film industry and adding value to the South West.

Through an intimate story of love, insecurity and queer acceptance, Against Your Nature strives to be an exploration of queer life. The main focus is of course on the relationship between a lesbian woman (Sara) and a bisexual one (Rachel), and more specifically the tension that emerges when the prospect of one of them being mandated to have sexual intercourse with a man becomes real.

Sara’s struggle isn’t uncommon in the LGBTQ+ community, as bisexuality is too often seen as a liminal orientation. Bisexual people have historically been considered “undecided” or “promiscuous”, and Against Your Nature seeks to shed light on this dark corner of the queer community, where bisexuals are still sometimes marginalised.

The brief journey Sara and Rachel live through is meant to act as somewhat of a debate between both sides. The aim is to understand and empathise with the feelings of insecurity a non-bisexual may discover while in a relationship with a bisexual person, while at the same time offering the conclusion that these feelings are human but needless.

As a bisexual man in a relationship with a gay man, these issues are often on my mind. While I know that they stem from natural feelings that can’t simply be “fixed”, my hope is that Against Your Nature will be a reflection on how these feelings, when properly handled, can in fact strengthen a relationship, rather than destroy it.

Against Your Nature is an important story that needs to be told now more than ever, so any help you can give us would be immensely appreciated, whether by donating to or sharing our campaign.

Thank you!

- Alessandro Magnabosco (writer, director and co-producer)