A medieval confrontation between two kings explores the dangerous cycle of revenge, power and tyranny
KING OF THE IRON WILL, a new medieval short film co-written and produced by Liam James Collins and Scott Vickers and directed by Vickers, is set to make its World Premiere at the HollyShorts Film Festival.
Set inside a brutal medieval kingdom, the film brings two powerful rulers face to face. At its center is King Baron, who finally confronts King Draven, the defeated tyrant responsible for the massacre that permanently shaped Baron’s life.
But their confrontation is not simply a battle between victor and vanquished. Instead, the film turns the encounter into an intense battle of words, examining what happens when the pursuit of justice begins to resemble the very tyranny it seeks to destroy.
Written entirely in Shakespearean language, KING OF THE IRON WILL uses the vocabulary and rhythms of classical theatre to tell a deeply human story about revenge, leadership, legacy and the corrupting nature of power.
When the Victim Becomes the Ruler
At the heart of KING OF THE IRON WILL is an unsettling question: What happens when someone who has fought against tyranny begins to become a tyrant themselves?
King Baron has spent years carrying the consequences of Draven’s brutality. Now, with Draven defeated and at his mercy, Baron has the opportunity to deliver the revenge he believes is justified.
Yet victory creates its own dilemma.
The confrontation forces Baron to consider whether justice can truly be achieved through vengeance, and whether the desire to punish an oppressor can ultimately consume the person seeking retribution.
Rather than relying solely on physical conflict, the film builds its tension through performance, dialogue and psychological confrontation.
Shakespeare as a Language for Everyone
One of the film’s most distinctive elements is its commitment to Shakespearean language.
For Collins, using Shakespeare is not intended to create distance between the audience and the story. Instead, the film approaches classical language as a powerful tool for communicating emotions and ideas that remain relevant centuries after Shakespeare first explored them.
Questions surrounding power, class, authority, revenge and moral responsibility are not confined to a particular historical period. By placing these themes inside a medieval world while presenting them through Shakespearean dialogue, KING OF THE IRON WILL seeks to make classical storytelling immediate and accessible to contemporary audiences.
The result is a short film that uses the conventions of historical drama to explore issues that remain deeply recognizable today.
A Personal Project for Liam James Collins
For Liam James Collins, the film represents more than an acting opportunity.
Coming from a working-class background in South East London with no family connections to the arts, Collins developed KING OF THE IRON WILL as a personal artistic statement and a way to create the kind of ambitious, performance-driven cinema he has spent years pursuing.
Collins co-wrote and produced the film, serves as executive producer, personally financed the production and stars as King Baron.
His commitment extended well beyond the creative process. Self-financing the project allowed him and the filmmaking team to pursue an ambitious visual approach, including filming inside two historic Scottish castles.
Collins also undertook extensive preparation in horse riding and sword fighting for the role, helping establish the physical authenticity of the medieval setting.
The project reflects Collins’ belief that classical storytelling should not belong exclusively to one social or cultural background. His use of Shakespeare becomes part of that larger mission, opening a traditionally elite form of storytelling to audiences from different walks of life.
Scott Vickers Brings Performance and Visual Storytelling Together
Co-writer, producer and director Scott Vickers brings extensive experience in both acting and filmmaking to the project.
Vickers is the award-winning British filmmaker behind the internationally distributed feature Matriarch. His background as an actor includes work on the BBC drama River City, giving him a particular understanding of performance and character-driven storytelling.
Working closely with Collins throughout the writing, development and production process, Vickers helped transform the original concept into an intimate confrontation with the atmosphere and scale of an epic historical drama.
The director’s approach places considerable emphasis on performance, silence and visual composition, allowing the conflict between Baron and Draven to unfold as much through what remains unspoken as through the film’s Shakespearean dialogue.
Charlie Creed-Miles Takes on the Fallen Tyrant
Opposite Collins is acclaimed British actor Charlie Creed-Miles, who plays King Draven.
Creed-Miles has built a career spanning more than three decades, with memorable performances across film and television. His credits include Nil by Mouth, The Fifth Element, Wild Bill, Harry Brown, and Peaky Blinders.
As Draven, Creed-Miles plays a ruler who has lost his kingdom and power and must now confront the consequences of the violence that defined his reign.
His experience brings additional emotional weight to the central confrontation, particularly as the film moves beyond the simple distinction between hero and villain.
Building a Medieval World
The film’s visual identity is supported by a creative team that includes cinematographer Robbie Jones, editor T.W. Leshner, and art director Ellen De Faux.
Period costumes were supplied by Angels Costumes, while the film features music by Lady Maisery with Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith.
The production’s use of historic Scottish castles, period costume, equestrian preparation and sword-fighting training contributes to a world that aims to feel both cinematic and grounded.
At the same time, the film’s intimate scale keeps the story centered on its two central characters and the moral conflict between them.
A Classical Story With Contemporary Questions
Although KING OF THE IRON WILL is set in a medieval kingdom, its central concerns are far from historical.
The film asks audiences to consider how power changes people, whether revenge can ever provide genuine justice, and what happens when a revolution replaces one form of oppression with another.
Its use of Shakespearean language reinforces those questions, connecting a contemporary independent filmmaking effort with one of the most enduring traditions in English-language theatre.
The film’s world is one of castles, kings and violence, but its underlying conflict is unmistakably human.
World Premiere at HollyShorts
The HollyShorts Film Festival will provide the first public opportunity for audiences to experience KING OF THE IRON WILL.
The festival’s reputation as a major platform for short-form filmmaking makes the World Premiere an important milestone for Collins and Vickers, particularly for a project created through an independently driven production process.
Combining historical drama, Shakespearean dialogue and an emotionally charged confrontation between two opposing rulers, KING OF THE IRON WILL arrives at HollyShorts with a story that looks backward in order to ask questions that remain firmly rooted in the present.
At its core, the film is a story about what happens after the battle has supposedly been won, when the harder question begins: what kind of ruler will you become once you finally hold the power you once fought against?
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