Screenwriter and director Luna Karmoon has finished principal photography on her second feature film, following her breakout debut, Horde, and has announced the lineup of notable characters who will lead the cast.
Starring Naomi Ackie (I’m Sorry, Baby, Mickey 17), Alison Oliver (Wuthering Heights, Saltburn), Anna Hardwick (Saipan, The Sixth Commandment) and Armand Boulanger (The Return, Eiffel), To Make Ends Meat tells the story of three women and their pasts who are in debt to despicable men. And they find themselves negotiating for survival in the only language they understand: consumption and violence.
The film is funded by BBC Film, BFI (National Lottory Funding), True Brit, Goodfellas, Mother, ProdCo, Arts Alliance, Affine Films, Cofiloisirs and Blush Film. Goodfellas will also handle international sales and plans to release the film in Cannes, while True Brits has already acquired distribution rights in the UK and Ireland.
“This film came from the belly of my soul, including Taal and my family,” Karmoon said. “From my grandmother’s experiences at Newington Lodge, to my mother Toni and the dark scavenging houses she took me to, to the teddy bears and chicken farms. My family and many of our memories run deeper than you might think. I can’t think of a time when painting, sewing, weaving and putting on screen has been more popular than it is now. It’s my anger that has fueled this.”
“The weathering of being a woman and how we are cannibalized by institutions, men, women, and sometimes the debts we write ourselves because we believe we deserve it. This was made with all of my blood, figuratively, yes, with all of my flesh. I hope that when it is sewn together, I know it will tear, tear, and scream out to us all.”
The Horde premiered at Venice Critics Week in 2023 and received critical acclaim and multiple awards. The film was subsequently distributed internationally and was nominated for the 2025 BAFTA Award for Best British Debut. In between films, Carmoon also directed a music video trilogy for Fontaine DC.
