A Bed of Foxgloves is a darkly comedic British short film made by Holly Joyce while at the University of Hertfordshire, and is based on a play by Anna Jordan. The film is almost entirely set in the back garden of a small, ordinary, suburban home.
Ted has recently died, and to cut costs, his wife Esme (television actress Phyllis Logan) and adult son Seth (Robin Berry) have held his funeral in the garden shed, and then buried him in a border – where Esme is planning on planting foxgloves. They are being interviewed about this unusual arrangement by a local reporter, Robin (Deeivya Meir).
Director Joyce has taken inspiration from the bright and colourful garden gnomes which populate the garden for both the production design and costumes. Robin wears a bright red coat and trousers, Seth wears an orange shirt which matches his ginger hair, and Esme wears a yellow cardigan over a flowery dress.
Esme is determined to keep things as bright and cheery as her surroundings, putting a positive spin on the funeral. Just as Ted used to put a positive spin on their financial struggles; “All we need is a loaf of bread, a tin of beans and each other.”
The juxtaposition of deadpan and prosaic humour, alongside death and tragedy, is a very British/Irish trait. And can recently be seen in the likes of The Banshees of Inisherin and The Thursday Murder Club. This comes out in A Bed of Foxgloves when Esme reveals that Ted died during a (not very good) episode of Deal or No Deal. Or when she lets slip that her neighbour is saving up for some new boobs.
The acting of the central trio is strong. With an especially good performance from Robin Berry as Seth – whose mother constantly berates as a “bloody idiot.” It turns out that Seth and Robin have a backstory, and Seth was bullied by Robin’s brother. Berry’s acting is particularly effecting during the sequence where this comes out, as well as a flashback of him collecting his father’s body in a transit van.
However short a film or small the budget, acting is an area that can always transcend these limitations and elevate something from average to good, or even great. Having a strong cast is one of the most essential elements of a student film or a short film. And A Bed of Foxgloves certainly has that going for it.
In the final poignant moments of the film, Joyce uses the Scottish folk song “The Parting Glass”, which is a lovely way to end. Adapting a play is a good idea for a short film, as the limited setting works well in both formats. A Bed of Foxgloves has clever dialogue, which is both witty and emotional at times, striking production design and costumes, and some skilled acting which makes us care about the characters.