Jellyfish (2019)

Jellyfish Poster- A woman riding a bike in a coat along the seafront at night is at the bottom of the poster with the jellyfish text at the top.

Jellyfish (2019) © Jellyfish Feature Film LTD

Writers: James Gardner, Simon Lord
Director: James Gardner
Starring: Liv Hill, Sinead Matthews, Cyril Nri
Production Company: Nik Holttum Productions
Kent Locations Used: Margate, Thanet

Jellyfish (2019) is a drama about a teenage carer discovering an unlikely talent for stand-up comedy. Fifteen-year-old Sarah Taylor (Liv Hill) struggles to care for twin siblings and a bed-ridden, manic depressive mother (Sinead Matthews) as well as bullying from her school peers. Jellyfish tells the story of how stand-up comedy becomes an unlikely outlet for Sarah’s frustration and quick-tempered wit.

Jellyfish is a feature film directed by James Gardner, who co-wrote the piece with film producer Simon Lord. Gardner has won six awards for Jellyfish, including three for Best Film, and is known for directing other works such as Barry Glitter and Ferris and the Fancy Pigeon, for which he won the Royal Television Society (RTS) Award for Best Post-Graduate Drama. Simon Lord has worked with Gardner on previous projects including Barry Glitter, and wrote the screenplay for the 2020 film Above The Clouds.

Jellyfish, starring Liv Hill (The Little StrangerThree Girls), Sinead Matthews (Pride & Prejudice (2005), The Boat That Rocked) and Cyril Nri (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, This Life) premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in April 2018 and had its International premiere shortly after at Edinburgh International Film Festival, where it won the Michael Powell Award for Best Performance in a British Feature Film.

Liv Hill stands on a deserted beach wearing a coat looking out at the pink sunset over the low tide.

Liv Hill in Jellyfish © Jellyfish Feature Film LTD 2017

Mostly filmed in Margate, a seaside town in Thanet in Kent, production shot on the seafront, Margate train station, Dreamland and Cedar Close as Sarah’s home and the Theatre Royal. The film also features landmarks such as The Lido, Arlington House and the Main Sands as its backdrop. Margate offers amusement, culture and luxury, and is part of the district of Thanet, a popular film location. Recent productions to film in Margate include Above The Clouds (2020) and Top Boy – Series 3 (2019).

Jellyfish was released on Friday 15th February 2019 in UK cinemas and is available to watch on Amazon Prime.

For more information about Kent’s Filming History please visit our Movie Map.