Camden's queer constellation is now Executive Partner on You Won't Help Me — a film by Distorted Rebels Productions on coercive control, based on real-life experience.
ZODIAC has spent five years being a home — for performers, for chosen families, for the kind of nights people remember years later. Backing You Won't Help Me takes that same instinct to screen: build the spaces where people see themselves, get language for what's happening, and find the door out.
Coercive control is a recognised criminal offence in the UK under Section 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015. It is the kind of abuse that hides in plain sight — the small comments, the quiet corrections, the slow erosion of someone's sense of their own reality. From the outside, nothing looks wrong.
This film names it. Distorted Rebels did the work on stage — four runs, three years, 5★ reviews, OFFIES recognition. Audiences told them the story helped them recognise the pattern, leave dangerous situations, feel less alone. Now it goes to screen, and reaches further.
ZODIAC has cumulatively raised over £300,000 for LGBTQ+ causes through its events. This sponsorship is community impact in another medium — a story already changing lives, getting the run it deserves.
At first, Sarah and David look like a normal couple. They laugh, they socialise, they fit easily into a group of close friends where everything feels light, chaotic, and full of life. Around them, Sarah is herself — funny, relaxed, completely at ease.
But behind closed doors, things shift. David doesn't shout or lose control. Instead, his behaviour is subtle — small comments, quiet corrections, moments that make Sarah question herself. It isn't obvious, and that's what makes it so dangerous.
Gradually, the relationship changes. What once felt like love becomes something more controlling, more suffocating. Sarah begins to second-guess her own thoughts, her own reactions, even her own reality.
The contrast between these two worlds becomes impossible to ignore — the warmth and freedom of her friendships versus the quiet tension of her relationship.
And the hardest part? From the outside, nothing looks wrong.
You Won't Help Me is an intimate, character-driven film about coercive control and the kind of abuse that hides in plain sight — where the damage isn't loud, but it's constant.
Synopsis credit: Distorted Rebels Productions. distortedrebels.com →
Coercive control is a criminal offence in the UK. You are not alone, and what you are experiencing has a name. Specialist support is free, confidential, and 24 hours.
In an immediate emergency, always call 999. If you cannot speak, dial 999 then press 55 (Silent Solution).
Distorted Rebels Productions tells raw, socially impactful stories. The company has built a reputation for work that challenges audiences and sparks conversation — staged, screened, and shared.
You Won't Help Me began on stage. Four successful runs in three years. 5★ reviews. OFFIES recognition. Audiences who said the work helped them name what was happening to them. Now Distorted Rebels brings it to film — and ZODIAC backs it.
distortedrebels.com → · @distortedrebelsproductions · info@distortedrebels.com