There’s something profoundly satisfying about a short film that takes a high-concept sci-fi premise and grounds it in the mundane, messy reality of human interaction – Craig Ainsley’s Everyone Does It accomplishes this with remarkable efficiency. Previously featured on Directors Notes back in 2018 with his painfully brilliant comedy Whenever You’re Ready starring fellow DN alum Rachel Stubbings, this time Ainsley drops viewers into what initially appears to be the morning aftermath of a typical one-night stand before gradually revealing something far more intriguing. The film’s brilliance lies in its restraint, rather than bombarding us with futuristic technology or elaborate world-building, Ainsley confines the action to a single bedroom and the awkwardly loud whispers of a group of female friends failing miserably at being quiet. The setting is deliberately sparse, with only subtle hints suggesting anything beyond our contemporary reality, which creates an engaging tension combined with the film’s increasingly bizarre undertones. What’s particularly refreshing is how Ainsley subverts typical sci-fi tropes. There are no grand explanations, no exposition dumps, just fragments of conversation that the confused feigning sleep conquest and audience must piece together. We welcome Ainsley back to DN for a chat about his love for messy, flawed people and the stories they hold, filming a read-through before shooting, marshalling his collaborators’ skills to refine the script, and framing his peculiar narrative within a realistic, grounded natural tone.
So, where on earth (or perhaps when on earth) did this story originate from?
When it comes to short films I don’t put pen to paper unless the concept feels achievable. So I’m always on the lookout for film ideas that can be achieved in a contained space. Once I have that, I can start writing. It’s fun to write with that limitation. I had the idea while lying on the floor at 4am next to my son’s cot. He’d woken and I was lying beside him pretending to be asleep so he would go back to sleep. I’d had a conversation about time tourism with a friend a while ago and that must have mingled into my tired brain at that moment.
I then wrote the script, attempting to have a tonally interesting take on the genre. It felt straight away like something for Florence Keith-Roach and Steve Whiteley to be in. We had met when we had films playing at Palm Springs and had talked about working together (I love the short film community). They came on board, then Michelle Fahrenheim and Mariam Haque did too. To test the material, I did a read-through, which I filmed. They questioned me on things and improvised their own lines in the moment. It generated new bits of material and I could watch it back then add new bits to the script.
How did that collaborative read-through with your cast approach shape the final dialogue and character dynamics? Were there any major changes that emerged from this process that surprised you?
It was really useful because each of the actors is a great writer too. They pressed me on the concept, on how it worked and why these characters chose to visit that particular period. That’s how the pre-AI line came about. I think Florence came out with that. I liked the idea that the girls would have wanted to take a trip to pre-AI times. It made sense and deepened the story. All the cast also ad-libbed here and there and came up with good stuff in the moment that I couldn’t have written.
I don’t think (in fact, I’m sure) I’ve ever had a conversation with a friend about time tourism but I want to. How did you land on a girls’ trip – I really felt it in my soul!
We were talking about how utterly useless you would be in the past in reality. Like, if you turned up in 1901 and they asked you how your phone worked, you’d have no idea. I really think I’d have nothing practical to offer. I’d just be a tourist. It’s a premise I have toyed with for ages, then the idea to set a story in one room came along and I was like, I could make that.
I suppose, in the search for more unfamiliar stories, I was drawn away from a group of lads talking about having a one-night stand.
A girl’s trip felt right. More interesting. Then, once I got those characters talking, I really liked them. I liked the dynamic that developed. I suppose, in the search for more unfamiliar stories, I was drawn away from a group of lads talking about having a one-night stand. Not that the story couldn’t work the other way around. Also, as Joel is just picking up tiny threads of information as he lays there, I wanted the stakes to escalate. So at first, he thinks that this girl may have quite a hot-tempered boyfriend, which is a worrying fact alone. But again, that element is just a minor wrinkle compared to what is happening. I also like that pathetic reflex he has to pretend to be asleep. Just to avoid the awkwardness for a moment. But then it leads to listening in and him pretending to be asleep leads to a heated argument that is whispered. I could see three girls whisper-shouting at each other. That’s enough to start writing.
You have a specific type of humour and have made some great, weird comedies with darker messages. I want to know about your style and preferences and how you think it allows you to tell the stories you want to.
I like flawed, messy characters. I like trying to dramatise the insane ramblings of the character’s inner world. Like, we have 1000 instant thoughts in the gap between experiencing something and then opening our mouths and saying something about it. Sometimes I struggle with stories because I just have characters talking and hanging out, which isn’t dramatic. But sometimes that method opens up premises that wouldn’t have occurred to me otherwise. If I’m stuck I just get two characters sat down and get them talking. Then a third person enters with a new piece of strange information. This film just started with a situation that felt really juicy to me.
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With everything written and cast, how did you then move into the production?
We had two days in a house in Clapham. After rehearsing the week before, I knew we needed to let the cast lead and give them freedom to move and react, so we did quite minimal blocking. We shot on a single camera, the Alexa 35. This meant that our DP, Matthew Emvin Taylo,r could follow the action and find the nice moments. It felt right to keep loose. If the cast talked over each other, this was fine. It fitted the chaotic energy of the situation.
Sometimes I struggle with stories because I just have characters talking and hanging out, which isn’t dramatic.
Working with a low budget in a small space, we had to move fast and find solutions. The scene where Mariam looks through the crack in the door is just her looking through two sheets of paper. It was getting late and the paper was easier to light than the door. When Steve wakes and we see through his eyelids, that’s Matt parting his fingers before the lens. I spent much of the day cramped into the en-suite toilet with my monitor, running out between takes to talk with the cast. By the time we got outside for the exterior shot at the end, my monitor was mounted on a wheelie bin. All fun DIY filmmaking.
It is certainly unlike the vast majority of sci-fi films, but also not a straight comedy – how did you make it so brilliantly ordinary?
Maybe it’s not a straight comedy because then it would feel less realistic. Like, if the jokes were too big. But it had to feel realistic. The tone of the film is a big part of the idea of the film, if that makes sense. The everyday, but with a high-concept backdrop. In terms of following characters in a chaotic situation, my mind always goes to the genius of The Thick of It. You can’t make anything as good as The Thick of It, but you can think about it a lot. And I find it interesting to take the sensibility of style like that and attach it to a central premise that is strange or from the sci-fi genre.
I remember really liking the movie Primer. That must have been in my head somewhere when I was writing this. I loved the odd tone they brought to that premise. La Jette too. That one is such a unique take on the genre, and probably a brilliant example of working within production constraints. I also like talkie films and hangout movies, so I’m probably constantly trying and failing to imitate Richard Linklater.
We wanted to keep things subtle and suggestive, so no big futuristic stuff. It wouldn’t have been right to go all Minority Report.
There are no futuristic or perhaps typical sci-fi elements in the film apart from her weird nose thing.
In terms of set design and wardrobe, we wanted to keep things subtle and suggestive, so no big futuristic stuff. It wouldn’t have been right to go all Minority Report. We didn’t have the budget for that anyway. So our cast dressed normally and anything that could be seen as futuristic was played quite low-key and straight. I liked the sense of ambiguity that came with playing it subtly. That thing in her nose – could that be just a weird bit of tech Joel hadn’t seen before? The big light. Is that just a light? It could be a booth maybe. Maybe it’s on the verge of being a booth. I actually wanted the character to go away very confused and not certain. Not daring to believe what might have just happened. Like, if his friends called him that day and asked him where he got to last night, would he tell them? Would he ever tell anyone? And how would people respond if he did?
Given the loose, improvisational shooting style, how did you approach assembling the cut? Were there moments where the actors’ overlapping dialogue or unplanned reactions created editing challenges or unexpected magic?
My editor, Max Windows (real name), made it work. I don’t know how he does it, but moments are trimmed, beats are extended, space is found, and a flow emerges. He is a wizard who can bend time. So it has the feel of being packed with dialogue but there are beats of space and pockets of quiet. It builds, then slows, then builds again. It allowed me to have a score running under the whole film. Every time we see Joel there’s an arpeggio synth beat, and when the girls are talking there are discordant notes from a cello and a drum loop rising and falling. It underpins the whole thing with a strange, uneasy vibe. It was composed by the talented Ali Helnwein.
The title of the film poses the question whether this is happening all the time.
You wanted Joel and the audience to leave the experience uncertain. How did you craft the film to sustain that ambiguity?
I think maybe by not wrapping everything up at the end. We just witness a very strange moment in his life, something he will remember forever. Something that may confuse him forever. A story he might tell forever. We also have no proof that the girls were time tourists. It’s a genuine mystery. Like lights in the sky. The possibility of it is more enticing than a definitive answer, in a way the title of the film poses the question whether this is happening all the time. I had that question going in and I never wanted to answer it. There’s also the possibility that it was all a very well-organised prank, which, again, leaves you thinking, “How did they do that?”
I wanted it to feel like if someone from the 90s saw someone vaping. Just really odd and you want to know more.
What is she doing with her nose?
I’m not sure. What do you think? I had an idea for some kind of morning-after intravenous vitamin blast. Something to cure a hangover but I didn’t want to say what it was. I asked Byron Broadbent, our production designer, for something vaguely futuristic but not something insanely high tech. I think I wanted it to feel like if someone from the 90s saw someone vaping. Just really odd and you want to know more. I drew a picture of a nose pipe thing with two prongs and sent it to him.
I’m eager to know what is coming next from you?
I made a short film a few years ago called Whenever You’re Ready. I’m turning it into a feature. The short was optioned by Clerkenwell Films and a 30 minute script was commissioned by BBC Studios, but then it spent years in development without being picked up. But to me it always felt like a movie. So now there’s a feature script ready to go. I’m guessing that should be on your screens by 2087.
