three — official trailer
Official trailer · A film by Robert Carlyle
A film by Robert Carlyle
desire. class. consent. three competing truths.
Sound on
Autumn 2026
three has screened at Flickerfest, Edinburgh International Film Festival and Edmonton International Film Festival. Selected for Santa Fe International Film Festival and San Jose International Short Film Festival this October.
Victoria Hamilton · Nicholas Rowe · Isaac Gryn
Written by Isaac Gryn & Patrick McPherson
Cinematography Fabian Wagner ASC BSC · Edited by Jon Harris
About the film
When a young man accepts a late-night invitation from a wealthy older couple, flirtation gives way to an unnerving contest of desire, control and competing truths.
Matt, 24, arrives at the opulent London home of Sarah and Ed, an older married couple who have invited him for a sexual encounter. What begins as a charged proposition soon becomes harder to read. As drinks are poured and boundaries shift, each of the three begins to test what the others want, what they will permit and what they can be made to admit. Darkly funny and increasingly unsettling, three follows a seductive game of control in which desire, class and consent collide — and no one can agree on who is using whom.
The film
Directed by actor and filmmaker Robert Carlyle, three marks his return to directing following The Legend of Barney Thomson.
The film reunites Carlyle with cinematographer Fabian Wagner ASC BSC and brings together an acclaimed creative team including Academy Award-nominated editor Jon Harris. Written by Isaac Gryn and Patrick McPherson, three is a complete, self-contained psychological chamber piece.
Director of Photography
Two-time Emmy-nominated cinematographer Fabian Wagner — whose work spans Game of Thrones, Sherlock and The Crown — turns a single London interior into something seductive, intimate and increasingly unstable.
Selected workEditor
Academy Award-nominated for 127 Hours, with credits including Snatch, The Descent and T2 Trainspotting, Jon Harris shapes the film’s tension through every held look, interruption and silence.
Academy profileProduction Designer
With art-department credits including Gangs of London and Netflix’s Scoop, production designer Danielle Bayliss makes the house an active presence — polished, watchful and full of uneasy contrasts.
Selected credits
Cast
Anaïs Gallagher · on setSarah
An acclaimed British actor whose screen credits include The Crown, Doctor Foster, Life and COBRA, with theatre work at the National Theatre, RSC and Almeida.
Anaïs Gallagher · on setEd
Known for Young Sherlock Holmes, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Operation Mincemeat and The Crown, with extensive work across film, television and theatre.
Anaïs Gallagher · on setMatt
A London-based actor, writer and producer whose screen credits include The Performance and The Tattooist of Auschwitz, with stage work including Stranger Things: The First Shadow and Cable Street.
Representation & profile · Lou Coulson AssociatesSelected creative team
2026
24 January 2026
14 & 16 August 2026
24 September–3 October 2026
October 2026
October 2026
The first announcement of Robert Carlyle’s return to directing with three.
Read the article on VarietyAn EIFF viewer praises Three before asking about directing.
Read the article on The GuardianIn the second half of the podcast, Carlyle discusses why he made three and his approach to directing it.
Listen to the interview on Film StoriesA close look at performance, control and Carlyle’s collaboration with Fabian Wagner.
Read the article on Original MagazineCarlyle discusses desire, power and the feature now being developed from the short.
Read the article on Female FirstThe official trailer and cast introduced alongside the film’s Edinburgh screenings.
Read the article on BritFlicksFeature development
The short’s festival journey has opened conversations about a larger film. Isaac Gryn and Patrick McPherson are developing a feature that extends its characters and themes, with Robert Carlyle attached to direct.
