#IFFIWood, 27 November 2025

The IFFI press conference for This Tempting Madness echoed the film’s own mood- tense, intimate, and filled with truths that linger long after they're spoken. Director Jennifer Montgomery, producer Andrew Davis, and actors Suraj Sharma and Zenobia Shroff came together to talk about bringing a true and painful story to the screen, one that blurs memory, emotion, and reality.

Jennifer opened the conversation with honesty: the film, she said, “is inspired by a true story and an unfortunate one.” Calling the narrative difficult to even talk about, she emphasised that cinema can offer context where words fall short. “We wanted to give the audience a space to understand the weight of what happened.”

Andrew followed, reflecting on the challenge of adapting real-life trauma. Telling a true story, he said, comes with responsibility. “As storytellers, we’re not just retelling an event. We’re trying to find meaning, interpretation, and the questions that linger. That’s the real work.”

For actor Suraj Sharma, the film wasn’t just another project, it was personal. Calling the experience “universal to a lot of people,” he spoke about the alarming prevalence of mental and emotional abuse. “Eleven percent of woman go through it, even higher in India. Being part of a film that starts a conversation felt important.”

He went on to share a moment from his own life, witnessing a friend’s sister endure abuse and stepping in to help her leave the situation. “This film is a tribute to the people who’ve actually suffered,” he said.

Zenobia Shroff, meanwhile, brought nuance and fire to her description of playing an Indian mother, supportive on the surface, pressured by cultural silence underneath. “We all know the mother-daughter equation in this country,” she said. “There’s always that ‘don’t tell anyone’ layer. A hidden misogyny that even mothers internalise.” Her goal, she added, was to shine a light on these patterns: “We need to stop telling our women to be smaller, and start telling our men to be better.”

Jennifer added that despite the Indian setting of the characters, the story itself was universal. “We cast the best person for the role, Simone Ashley and she happened to be of Indian orgin,” she said. The rest of the cast helped her navigate cultural specifics she wasn’t familiar with.

On the technical front, the team described using intercut memories to reflect Mia’s amnesia and disorientation. “When you’re suffering memory loss, nothing is accurate,” Jennifer explained. “So we built a visual structure that constantly moves between present and fractured memory.”

The conversation also dipped into literary alleyways when a journalist asked whether Jennifer had drawn any inspiration from Virginia Woolf while doing this movie. She hadn’t, but smiled and said she wants to read her now and see that angle.

Reflecting on the emotional core of the story, Jennifer summed it up poignantly: “It’s my role as a writer-director to find humanity in every character. All of us feel tempted by madness at some point.”

Andrew closed the session on a note of resilience: “This film, inspired by true events, is also a testament to strength. That people can change, and they can become stronger.”

With its themes of trauma, love, self-doubt and survival, This Tempting Madness left the IFFI audience with more than just film talk, it left them with questions, reflections, and perhaps a deeper empathy for the unseen battles people carry.

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About IFFI

Born in 1952, the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) stands tall as South Asia’s oldest and largest celebration of cinema. Jointly hosted by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India and the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG), State Government of Goa, the festival has grown into a global cinematic powerhouse—where restored classics meet bold experiments, and legendary maestros share space with fearless first-timers. What makes IFFI truly sparkle is its electric mix—international competitions, cultural showcases, masterclasses, tributes, and the high-energy WAVES Film Bazaar, where ideas, deals and collaborations take flight. Staged against Goa’s stunning coastal backdrop from November 20–28, the 56th edition promises a dazzling spectrum of languages, genres, innovations, and voices—an immersive celebration of India’s creative brilliance on the world stage.

For more information, click on:

IFFI Website: https://www.iffigoa.org/

PIB’s IFFI Microsite: https://www.pib.gov.in/iffi/56/

PIB IFFIWood Broadcast Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaEiBaML2AU6gnzWOm3F

X Handles: @IFFIGoa, @PIB_India, @PIB_Panaji

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PIB IFFI CAST AND CREW | Ritu Shukla/Sangeeta Godbole/Nikhitha A S/Darshana Rane | IFFI 56 - 106