In Conversation With Ungyu Yeo and Kira Lashmar: Exploring ‘Holy Sinner’
Holy Sinner follows Brandon, a British civil servant and sex addict, who leads a hedonistic life with a group of Southeast Asian prostitutes in his former Cambridge flat. Despite his vices, he remains a devout Christian, shaped by a childhood spent attending church with his mother every Sunday. Each night, Brandon is consumed by guilt, torn between his faith and his self-destructive desires, and finds himself endlessly repenting for his sins. Director Ungyu Yeo delves into the collision of faith and vice in Holy Sinner, weaving a powerful narrative of guilt, morality, and inner conflict underpinned by an exploration of Nietzschean philosophy.
I sat down with the film’s producer, Kira Lashmar, over Zoom to discuss the making of the film and her role in bringing Yeo’s vision to life.
Kira, how well do you think the title of “producer” encompasses your roles and responsibilities during the production? “Producer” is a catchall phrase – what do you think was expected of you during filming?
I will admit that I didn't have an in-depth understanding - this is the first film I've ever produced. I've directed things before in college, and obviously I'm an actor, so I'm not used to being on this side of things. I knew that I was coming on to be a good helping hand, and I thought maybe I would be doing most of the post-production - watching scenes, checking audio, and other things like that. I actually aided in the casting, some script rewrites, I directed a few scenes, I was the talent liaison for the days we were shooting, and all of that was perfectly fine and I was happy to do it, but I think maybe some people don't think that producer is a big umbrella term, because I didn't and i'm in the industry. ‘Producer’ describes the main role, and there's little branches of what producers are capable of and what they do, I can't speak on a bigger budget in terms of Hollywood productions, we were really small, and it may have been the case that i helped out in certain areas because we were small, but I didn't realise at the time how much of a hands on role I would have, and I'm quite grateful that I did have one. It's also good as an actor to have outlets of talent to kind of add, in case acting doesn't work out one year but producing does!
How did the material of the film and the subjects it discussed reflect on your responsibilities? The film deals with a lot of intense sexual material, and I noticed that you had an intimacy coordinator on set, I wanted to know if the material or the process of filmmaking influenced your role or the impact you had on that.
With regards to crew, there were two women - me and the set designer. The director, cameras, sound, all of them were men, and I took it upon my responsibilities and got very protective over the girls who were shooting these scenes because I knew as an actor myself that I'd like to be looked out for. I was very heavy on having an intimacy coordinator. I actually sourced Lex because it's needed no matter how big or small a production is, for safety not only of the actors but also for those involved because if something were to go wrong, that would then reflect on us. I spent hours with the actresses and we spoke about what they were comfortable with, what they weren't comfortable with, we had a closed set on the day and I was very adamant that everyone needs to be out of the house; everyone who wasn't essential to the scenes, if we could manage for them to be out of the house, all the girls were allowed to review the footage and tell us what they were happy or unhappy with. I also started thinking more like a producer than an actor, because my boundaries might be different to other people, some of the girls were happy doing certain things, some of them weren't, so this wasn't a case of "Oh this is how it's written so this is how you need to do it", it was a case of "This is an outline of what we are showcasing here in terms of sex addiction. Within that subject, what are you happy to do or perform?" and i was very adamant pretty much from the get go that we needed an intimacy coordinator and if we hadn't been able to get one I wouldn't have been a part of it.
I know with small productions it can be quite hard to spare the budget for another employee, and I'm really happy you found a way to make that work, because it sounds like it would have been quite a different filming process if that hadn't happened.
Lex was very understanding of the size of the production that we had and the budget that we had. she brought anything and everything that we could've needed, we would've been a lot more awkward and a lot more lost if we didn't have Lex, and I'm glad that we were able to create that environment for everyone involved, because like I said, if I were in that situation i'd like to be looked after.
You’ve worked with the director, Ungyu Yeo, as an actor before – in the film Killed Herself Twice. What was it like to approach one of his projects as a producer instead of as an actor?
The scale of the production, surprisingly, has actually increased! When we filmed Killed Herself Twice, it was just me, him, another actress, and that was it - we had no sound crew, nothing, it was just him, a camera, and we worked around it and did what we needed to do. When he approached me, both of us had grown, and he knew what I was capable of. It was very different - rather than being on camera and bringing his vision to life physically, I took a different mindset and looked at the bigger picture, and saw his project, the actors and the actresses we had, and what we were able to do. we only shot over three days, we didn't have a long shoot at all, so to get an entire feature film in three days we had to be very on it, very planned, very strict, normally as an actor you're very free to do what you want and as a producer we had to stick to timelines, deadlines, people were going back home on the sunday so we had to make sure we got them out, so in the same aspect that i wanted to bring his project to life from paper to screen, more intense in the fact that I had to look at it as an overall rather than "These are my scenes, this is what i'm doing, i've got nothing more to do."
This is your producer debut – what did you find was the most challenging aspect of taking on a new role within the film production space?
So when I went to college and I did drama and theatre, it was not taught - it was probably taught in drama school, but not in drama and theatre. so i'm very lucky that Ungyu took a chance and allowed me to learn and experience that. I think the biggest challenge was going in blind - if I'd had any previous training or experience, or if I'd learnt about it, I probably knew most of what I was in for, but I was pretty much going in blind. I didn't know how timelines or things worked, I didn't know how long the film would take to edit and publish - I'm quite an "I want something done and I want it done now" person, so with film festival season and submitting it, waiting for people to get back to us and it can be like two to three months and I'm just sat here waiting for people to respond. It's a good thing that a lot of skills as a producer are transferrable, from day to day life, and from what I did as an actor and in school, but yeah I would definitely say going in blind, as far as I'm aware. I would like for there to be more teaching and more coverage on producer experience, because it was quite daunting, and if it were a bigger production it would've been bigger and bigger and bigger and I'm just lucky that I, hopefully, managed to do a good job.
What were the most exciting aspects of filming internationally as a small, independent production?
I didn't go over to Thailand, we had a crew over there who did a fantastic job. I've seen the entire film and the scenes with the Thai nightlife are stunning, and it is exactly what we wanted and what we imagined. a lot of our crew are from different parts of the world - Ungyu's Korean, we had people who were from Chinese, people from other parts of Asia, people who were English of course, and people from Eastern Europe who were helping us out, and being able to authentically source another culture that we could bring to screen was the most exciting thing about it, rather than going around the streets of Cambridge and pretending it was Thailand. it wouldn't have been authentic or proper for the story we were trying to tell. we can back it up with the evidence and showcase a completely different culture, perhaps a culture that some of our crew might share.
You do reviews of events, act, and you are formally employed – is this the norm? How do you think theatre and film institutions can bolster and aid independent creatives and fresh faces entering the industry?
It's a lot, and I will admit that with the day job that I have of working in hospitality, and right now it's incredibly quiet and i'm hardly working, a lot of my effort is going into covering the reviews for the magazines, contacting publications and things, which is tough with regards to being an actor, and in regards to wanting to be a part of this industry. I'm a working-class creative and I'm very proud to be that, but there is a lot of money that you need to put in to even just get out there - you have to pay for your headshots, websites like Spotlight. The first film I was ever a part of I was on set for ten hours completely unpaid - that's the sort of thing you have to do. I'm working in hospitality and the majority of that money is going back into my dream career and it is a very risky move because nothing might come of it. This money might just be moot. there definitely needs to be a bigger chance taken on independent creatives and "fresh faces" - the people we see regularly have obviously worked very hard to get to where they are, they wouldn't be where they are if they were not talented. I just think that there needs to be more of an open mind when it comes towards people who aren't necessarily that established because we can only ever do so much and there are certain things like funding, I know theatres get funding, the good thing is also publications like yourself wanting to sit down and speak with me, it's a big help because it broadens our reach, and we can sort of push more than what we might've been able to if it were just us. It's getting harder; there are studies that say that it has gotten harder. A theatre near me closed because it wasn't doing anything, and that's one of the theatres where the film was supposed to be shown, so it affects not just the business, and the locals, and the council, but it also affects broader events. If it keeps getting harder it might deter young kids from wanting to get involved and wanting to become fresh faces and independent creatives. I wasn't able to study drama in high school, and I was only able to study it in college because I went outside my council district, so it would be a big help if it were more inclusive. We would make an easier and less stressful industry if fresh faces and independents were more accepted and included.
What were some of your most valuable experiences and learnings from this production?
In regards to production, I have a lot more admiration and respect for people behind the scenes - editors, sound designers, things like that. From an acting standpoint, a lot of people know the actors of a film, the director of it, actors win awards all the time, and they are an integral part of the film, but there's so many people and so many different components behind the scenes. We spent a good part of nine months for this film doing audition calls, contacting agents, outsourcing intimacy coordinators, local businesses to help us film in Cambridge, and I've left with the highest respect and understanding for those who do things behind the scenes. Once it is finished and you're left with the material - in the case of our film, we didn't have the opportunity to go back and reshoot if something went wrong, so the magic that they're able to do and work with what they have has left me with more admiration for all aspects of productions.
I knew that the material of the film would require a delicate approach, and the themes we have, some people might see as quite niche or taboo, and they might have one way of thinking about sex workers or religious trauma, so we knew that going into it we would have to approach it with a delicate touch. Something that hasn’t quite left me was how willing everyone was to be sensitive about it, because even though we were there to do a job, and we were on a timeline, we became so close-knit as a crew. People were so open and willing to listen to each other and respect each other as talent and crew, and that really affected me because i didn't realise how even though we have a job to do and everyone has their own components that we need to do, how willing people were to sit back and put their own roles aside to create a space for everyone, and as soon as i got on the train and as soon as our lead actor Jordan got on the train, we messaged the group chat saying "We miss you guys already and i'm not even home yet!!" It was quite surreal to see these people who were there to do a job were also willing to still be human. It's grown my love for this film - what started off as a small project on a piece of paper has become my everything.
What do you think audiences should look out for and try to gain from the film?
We're telling a story to bring a comprehensive representation to addiction, to anxiety, anyone who is in an environment where they're overly isolated, and people who turn to sex work as a last resort. We haven't created a film to bash sex workers or bash religion, nothing like that, we're telling a story and we're bringing awareness to these things, and we hope that people leave with the understanding that everyone involved is still human and everyone involved is worthy of being showcased in things. Brandon, our main character, even though he's religious he still has his own demons and people who are on completely different ends of the spectrum in the world are all the same and we go through the same problems and we want to bring awareness to the superficiality of modern-day society about religion, addiction, sex work, and if we could, we'd like to change the people's perspectives on that. We can't control if they don't, but if even one person sees this film and it changes the way they see certain professions or certain addictions, or mental illness, then we've done our job.
While Ungyu Yeo, the film's director, was unavailable for a live interview, he shared his thoughtful responses to my questions via email.
Ungyu, What made you choose topics like religious trauma and sex addiction to portray in this film?
In a nutshell, yes, all different elements are all mingled in. I grew up in a deeply religious household and was raised as a devout Christian. As a child, faith was a fundamental part of my identity, but during adolescence, I began questioning certain doctrines—particularly the idea of purity. The contrast between chastity as a virtue and natural human desire became a source of inner conflict.
I studied Cinema Studies at Korea National University of Arts. During my university years, I traveled extensively, immersing myself in different cultures. In Southeast Asia, especially, I witnessed firsthand the unsettling realities of sex tourism—older Western men walking the streets with young local escorts. It prompted me to research further, and I came across exploitative, illegal pornographic websites that dehumanized Southeast Asian women, treating them as mere commodities. It felt like a modern racial, economic form of neo-imperialism—an extension of historical oppression.
I was also deeply influenced by films like Steve McQueen’s Shame (2011) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Don Jon (2013), which explore sexual addiction and human vulnerability. As a cinephile who loves both Hollywood and European arthouse cinema, I wanted to craft a film that blends these personal reflections with a distinctive visual and narrative style—slow cinema with a thought-provoking, existential core.
How did the material of the film influence your directing?
I didn’t want the film to be a one-sided exploration of male suffering, nor did I want to frame the escorts as mere victims. Instead, my goal was to create a broader discourse—one that encompasses themes of sex tourism and postcolonialism.
This led me to develop a hybrid storytelling approach that I call "fiction and non-fiction"—a genre that subverts traditional narrative structures by juxtaposing seemingly unrelated scenes. So, I tried to create an intentional and segmental dissonance that distances the audience from cinematic illusionism. This technique, inspired by art cinema traditions, allows for a more nuanced discourse on postcolonial themes while keeping the audience engaged in an individualistic storyline.
Through this approach, I aim to challenge conventional storytelling and encourage viewers to engage with the material critically rather than passively absorbing a predetermined message.
What was the biggest challenge of bringing this film to life?
One of the greatest challenges was translating Nietzschean philosophy into cinematic form. The protagonist embodies the struggle of attempting—but ultimately failing—to attain the Übermensch, Nietzsche’s concept of an ideal, self-overcoming individual who transcends suffering and challenges divine authority.
In the film, he is portrayed as a lonely outsider, trapped in addiction and compulsion, unable to find genuine human connections. Yet, at the same time, he is a truth seeker—constantly confronting his limitations and questioning God. This duality was difficult to balance. It’s one thing to explore such themes in literature, but visual storytelling demands a more visceral, emotional approach. I constantly questioned whether I was making the right directorial choices in conveying this internal conflict without overly intellectualizing the narrative.
Well, ultimately, I hope that the film captured this existential struggle in a way that resonates with audiences on both an emotional and philosophical level.
What do you hope audiences take from the film?
When I first watched the Dardenne brothers’ The Child (2005), it changed the way I saw cinema. I had the film poster in my room, and I still remember its tagline: “We’re still dreaming of hope.” That phrase stayed with me.
As an independent filmmaker, my goal is to create films that challenge, provoke, and, most importantly, heal. I want audiences to engage with the material in a deeply personal way—to reflect on their own beliefs, their struggles, and finally, their capacity for change. If this film sparks even a moment of introspection or a conversation that might not have happened otherwise, then I consider it a success.
Edited by Humaira Valera, Co-film & TV editor
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