An upcoming Irish short horror film delves into one of the lesser documented effects of the housing crisis, and how it impacts the trans community.
Hostile Architecture is the brainchild of Irish filmmaker Liadán Roche and writer James Hudson, and it explores the surge in young LGBTQ+ people living in their childhood bedrooms and the toll this takes on their intimate lives.
The film is now in pre-production with a shooting date in January 2026. Roche and Hudson are currently fundraising in order to make Hostile Architecture a reality.
For Roche, Ireland’s housing crisis proved to be very fertile ground for both horror and romance.
“I believe that you can’t really talk about sex without addressing the fact that we’re losing places to be intimate with one another in Dublin, especially for queer and trans people,” Roche told GCN.
Roche and Hudson drew on their own love story to inform Hostile Architecture.
“Myself and my creative partner (Hudson) have been working on this film for the past two years and we wanted to reflect our own experience of trans life, love and sex while trying to live in Dublin,” she said.
“In a world that’s becoming more hostile for trans people, it feels like our only real place of safety is our homes. But facing the housing crisis, cost-of-living crisis and general job insecurity, how can we date and fuck? How are we meant to live our lives comfortably with that dread hanging over us?”
Hostile Architecture centres on two characters navigating the impact of the housing crisis. Grace finds herself homeless after being kicked out by her housemates, while Billy is financially unable to move out of his family home.
“They’re in opposite crises created by the housing crisis, totally robbed of choices for how to live their lives,” Roche said.
The pair agree to hook up in Billy’s childhood bedroom, where he reveals he has magic chalk that can create an extra-dimensional room, offering peace and privacy.
“Inside the room, this mundane hookup turns into something more intimate, sexy and romantic because they finally have their own space. But it can’t last forever,” Roche said. “Something wants to squeeze the life out of Billy and Grace, and it’s inside this room with them. So when time starts running out, they have to decide if this malicious room is where they belong, or if there’s any space for them in the city outside their room.”
Hostile Architecture‘s cast and crew is entirely queer and trans, which was very important to Roche and Hudson.
“There are so many creative and wonderful queer and trans people working on films in Ireland right now and it’s never been easier to find them with the Queer Talent Ireland database which went live a few months ago,” Roche said.
She continued: “This is a film that is very specific to the trans experience. In as many roles as possible, we wanted queer and trans people who will have a creative connection to depicting these characters and experiences from their community. Because of the film’s intimate nature, I also want to foster a safe and comfortable set for everyone involved.”
From an industry perspective, it was also important for Roche and Hudson to have a queer and trans cast and crew be part of this Irish horror film.
“As a trans filmmaker, I also know it’s more difficult to get work in film (or any industry). Making a short film means creating jobs, and we want those jobs to go to queer and trans people who need them! That’s why we’re running a fundraiser, to make sure that we can pay everyone adequately for their work,” she said.
Roche and Hudson are currently running an online fundraiser, which you can support right here. They will also be hosting a fundraiser screening of the films that have inspired Hostile Architecture in Outhouse on December 5.
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