Director Guy Trevellyan unleashes a stunning, BAFTA-qualifying short film that melds high-concept suspense with chilling environmental realism. Bold, cerebral, and cinematically unsettling, this 20-minute thriller doesn’t just raise awareness of microplastics, it forces us to confront the terrifying truth that they’re already inside us.

Set in a hospital teetering on the edge of panic, PLASTIC SURGERY follows Dr. Terra (Anna Popplewell), in a quietly devastating performance) on her final shift before maternity leave. When a disturbing anomaly is discovered inside her patients; plastic embedded in their organs her world begins to unravel. What follows is a tense, genre-infused spiral into ecological horror, as Terra’s clinical detachment gives way to existential dread. The stakes aren’t just medical, they’re maternal, societal, planetary.

Inspired by real scientific research on microplastics found in human arteries, Trevellyan’s film is a triumph of speculative realism. The horror isn’t supernatural, it’s factual. And that makes it all the more disturbing.

Visually, the film is razor-sharp. Trevellyan, a MetFilm School graduate with experience working alongside auteurs like Wes Anderson and Greta Gerwig, brings a distinctive, composed aesthetic to the screen. Every shot is precise. Every sound, every silence, carries weight. There’s a haunting stillness to the film that feels like the calm before an irreversible storm.

What sets PLASTIC SURGERY apart is its refusal to resort to didacticism. It doesn’t preach. It doesn’t scold. Instead, it weaponises suspense to illuminate the everyday horror of environmental decay. This is ecological storytelling at its most powerful transforming invisible threats into visceral, cinematic tension.

Popplewell’s performance is the film’s beating heart. As Dr. Terra, she channels a deep, internal conflict: the instinct to heal versus the inevitability of harm. Her portrayal captures the overwhelming contradiction of bringing new life into a world slowly poisoned from within. In her, we see not just a physician but Mother Nature herself, nurturing and endangered in equal measure.

Since premiering at the Oscar®-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival where it won Best Thriller PLASTIC SURGERY has earned critical acclaim for its genre-forward boldness and message-driven storytelling. Now a BAFTA-qualifying short, it continues to strike a chord with audiences and juries alike, resonating at the intersection of science, suspense, and social urgency.

PLASTIC SURGERY is more than a film. It’s a reckoning. A cinematic biopsy of a planet and a species under silent siege. Trevellyan has not only crafted one of the most vital short films of the year, but also positioned himself as an emerging filmmaker with something essential to say.

In a world flooded with noise, PLASTIC SURGERY cuts through with scalpel-like precision. It’s intelligent. It’s terrifying. And it’s absolutely unmissable.

Verdict: ★★★★★
A nerve-jangling eco-thriller that lingers long after the credits roll.

Clara Voss