\n\tThe film \u2014\u00a0also borne out of Lumby\u2019s own mental health experiences \u2014\u00a0follows Jamal, a young man who hears voices (Lumby says he prefers this term to \u201cschizophrenia\u201d) and is struggling to balance the medication he\u2019s supposed to be taking with his marijuana consumption. Living in supported housing in East London alongside others with mental health issues, Jamal finds himself increasingly lonely and isolated, with the voices in his head, one relating to past family events, only intensifying once he decides to throw his pills away.<\/p>\n
\n\tWhile the story doesn\u2019t culminate in the violent depths seen in the cinema tropes Lumby was purposefully looking to avoid, it\u2019s a tough watch. But that\u2019s largely due to the aural sensation provided by the voices, which become more powerful and prominent as the film progresses, dragging Jamal down with them.<\/p>\n
\n\tCarrying \u201cFlorid\u201d as Jamal is Jonathan Jules, best known for Steve McQueen\u2019s \u201cSmall Axe,\u201d in his first lead role. \u201cIt\u2019s not easy to act in a mentally unwell state in an authentic, accurate way,\u201d notes Lumby.<\/p>\n
\n\tDuring filming, Jules wore earpieces on set, with actors in another room speaking into microphones so he could hear the voices live and respond in an unrestricted way. \u201cThere were theses little moments where his eyes twitched \u2014\u00a0it just made if feel so real,\u201d says Lumby. After principal photography wrapped, many months would be spent in post-production augmenting the voices to create the right tone and weave them into the overall soundscape.<\/p>\n
\n\tMaking the editing process even more complex was the fact that Jamal hears three voices. There\u2019s a little girl, representing his self-worth and highly critical of him. Then there\u2019s the voice of real-life rapper Unknown T, who hypes him up. \u201cThat\u2019s his more grandiose side, building up his ego and making him think that big things are going on in his life,\u201d says Lumby. But most destructive is the voice of Jamal\u2019s stepdad, which is a negative, paranoid voice that tries to convince him to doubt the intentions of those around him.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWhen he\u2019s well, he can ignore these things and it\u2019s just like a little anxious thought in the background,\u201d says Lumby, who was heavily inspired by the Hearing Voices Movement, which rejects traditional psychiatric notions that such voices are merely hallucinations to be dulled through medication. Instead, it argues that they can be a valid part of someone\u2019s identity and history and don\u2019t always exist as a negative experience.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-variety-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
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\t\t\t\t\tJamal Jules in \u2018Florid\u2019<\/p>\n
\n\tWhile Lumby says there are definite \u201cautobiographical elements\u201d to \u201cFlorid,\u201d he went to great lengths to achieve additional authenticity. As part of years of research into the U.K.\u2019s National Health Service and its mental health system, he went on psychiatric wards across London, shadowed social workers and met those with mental health experiences, plus their families and carers. Lead actor Jules spent time in the NHS, as his co-star Saskia Chana, who plays another resident of the supported housing and potential love interest. But many of the other roles went to non-actors that Lumby met during the extensive development process.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe have real psychiatrists, social workers, real people with lived experiences, people with diagnoses of schizophrenia, bipolar and severe mental health experiences,\u201d he says. Jamal\u2019s care coordinator is played by Claire Holman, an real NHS care coordinator and someone Lumby says \u201copened a lot of doors\u201d in the mental health community for him.<\/p>\n
\n\tLumby asserts that Holman and the others from the mental health community wanted to be involved in the project because, like him, they were \u201cpassionate\u201d about the subject matter and also \u201chaven\u2019t seen it represented properly or seen their lives shown before.\u201d<\/p>\n