Ava in a pink dress, looking directly at the camera.

A short film by Emma Jayne Hodgkinson

Eat yourheart out.

Name: Eat Your Heart Out
Director: Emma Jayne Hodgkinson
Duration: 10 min

Desire. Hunger. Rage.

A dark comedy about modern dating.
With conversations from real dates.

Watch the teaser About the film

Independent cinema · LondonMeet Ava Lamia 10 minute short

01 The filmModern dating in London

Ava is dating
again.

Her best friend thinks she should
give it another go.

A London dating story
with a surreal streak.

Ava Lamia, a vegan animal lover in her thirties, reluctantly lets her best friend talk her into dating again in London. She meets a DJ who sees himself as a visionary, a yoga obsessive and a tech bro obsessed with self-improvement.

Unsettling visions keep interrupting the small talk as Ava’s desire turns to hunger and rage. The film mixes dark comedy with violent surrealism.

Conversations from real dates2025 to 2026

The dialogue comes word for word
from Emma’s real dates.

02 The teaserSound on

The teaser.

The official teaser.
38 seconds from the film.

Eat Your Heart Out / Official teaserWatch on YouTube

Contains unsettling imagery and adult themes.

03 The filmmakerAbout Emma

Writer, director and poet

Emma Jayne
Hodgkinson.

A film drawn from
her own dating life.

Emma Jayne Hodgkinson is a filmmaker and poet who used to teach English. Her earlier short, No Worries If Not! (2024), is a dark comedy about people-pleasing.

Eat Your Heart Out began with her own dates and the pressure to find a partner. Her discomfort around eating animals is in there too. She wanted to ask what we want for ourselves.

Poetry / 2020Getting Over Myself, and Other People

Emma on IMDb Follow Emma

Emma on the film