Writer and Director: Lois Derbyshire
Lois Derbyshire’s bonkers dystopian religious thriller, Prophetic Fallacy, features a family of evangelical Christians who seclude themselves in an isolated bunker, which has its own water supply and farm, waiting to be called up to heaven in the event of nuclear Armageddon. The word-art on the wall, presumably nabbed in the nick of time from Etsy and there with ironic intent, reads “Live! Laugh! Love!”. Unfolding events suggest that Loiter, Lie, and Loathe would better describe the family dynamic. Perhaps Lapse, Leap, and Lose might be appropriate for the narrative, parts of which would test the faith of the firmest disciple.
At the head of the family is Paul (Neville Cann), whose encounter with an Angel — apparently during an epileptic seizure — leads him to believe he is God’s prophet on earth. Paul takes anti-psychotics in large quantities, so his reliability is questionable.
One of Paul’s ancestors (or it could be Paul himself) kidnapped a child bride from an Amish community in Pennsylvania. We know this because Derbyshire periodically interrupts the storyline to deliver a substantial dose of expository backstory via a quirky pair of true-crime podcasters who say things like “hold on to your hats and horses”. The kidnapping is in no visible way related to the main story, so one presumes it is there to hint that we are dealing with quite an unconventional lineage.
One’s best guess is that Paul’s wife, Lauren (Maria Anthony), was not kidnapped, though she might have been, since she speaks with an American accent and the bunker seems to be somewhere in rural England. Lauren is having an affair with Paul’s bible-spouting henchman and son-in-law, Charlie (Seb Slade). Charlie is married to Gethsemane (Daisy Bull), whom Paul adopted many years previously. Gethsemane does not really seem to believe in God. “This whole shitshow is a façade”, she tells us, wisely it turns out. Sadly, we are firmly in The Handmaid’s Tale territory here, so she will have to lump it.
Both Lauren and Gethsemane are pregnant with Charlie’s child. He has obviously taken the word-art injunction, Love! at face value. Paul’s other daughter, Beth (Lois Derbyshire), ran away many years ago in search of freedom with a suicidal lover. We know this because Derbyshire periodically gives us scenes with a TikTok influencer, there to deliver yet more largely redundant backstory. Now Beth returns, a prodigal daughter, seeking forgiveness and a place at the table. Not a good move, Beth, given that Paul has a knife hidden up his sleeve.
The nuclear war unfolds. The radios go silent. Everyone beyond the bunker walls seems to be dead. Except, hold on, those annoying true-crime podcasters and that nagging TikTok woman must have come from somewhere, which introduces a plot chasm that Derbyshire quite rationally ignores. “He’s insane”, Gethsemane says of her father, though she could be talking about the final plot twist.
Reviewed on 11 March 2026
