Lilies Not for Me

Set in 1920s England, the film follows Owen James (Fionn O'Shea), an aspiring novelist who was admitted to a medical facility that claims to "cure" homosexual tendencies through then-experimental procedures. As part of Owen's treatment, he is placed under the care of Nurse Dorothy (Erin Kellyman), with whom he shares prescribed daily teatime sessions meant to prepare him for a so-called "normal" heterosexual life. Through a series of flashbacks, Owen's backstory gradually unfolds, revealing a clandestine affair and the traumatic consequences of a risky, unproven practice that promised to suppress same-sex desire. In the present, the narrative focuses on Owen's growing bond with Dorothy, whose open-mindedness contrasts sharply with the hospital's repressive ethos. Meanwhile, characters played by Robert Aramayo and Louis Hofmann factor into Owen's past-and potentially his future-as the facility's staff and patients wrestle with moral, psychological, and social pressures.