Neurodivergence and 'northern grit' inspire horror mockumentary

A York-based writer and director who was diagnosed with autism and ADHD last year at the age of 43 says he hopes a new horror mockumentary he is creating will let people like him "see themselves in the characters and get inspiration".

Jay Sillence says The Four Horsemen of Muckenthwaite, whose script has already been nominated for 17 awards worldwide, including the New York and Chicago Script Awards, is about characters who "just can't quite fit in".

The film tells the story of the biblical Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but with the twist that they have been sacked from the underworld and need to get part-time jobs in a fictional town in the north of England.

Jay says he and co-writer Dan Marshall originally came up with the idea 10 years ago, working it into a "fully functional 20-odd minute script" on video calls during the Covid lockdown.

Jay says his autism and ADHD diagnoses in 2025 enabled him to "know my own mind a little better".

"As an adult who's been struggling with life, with anxiety, with fitting in, with forming and maintaining relationships, with emotion, emotional regulation, all this sort of stuff for my whole life, I now know what that is," he says.

Jay is now working with friends, Hull-based producer Gemma Brown and executive producer Dom Smith, to raise thousands of pounds to get the project into production.

"We don't want to skimp on anything," Jay says.

"We want the right actors who are really good at comedy. We want the right prosthetics and that look for it, to do it justice."

Gemma, 38, was herself diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) last July and with ADHD three years ago.

The diagnoses "answered an awful lot of questions about who I am as a person, my experiences as I was growing up", she says.

As well as The Four Horsemen of Muckenthwaite portraying neurodivergent experiences on screen, Gemma says she is aiming to make the production a "safe space" for cast and crew members.

"We're highlighting how the wrong environment can be disabling for neurodivergence, so we really need to ensure the environment we provide is the safety and the accessibility everybody needs," she says.

Accommodations are being made for potential cast members, such as offering extra time to respond, allowing video contributions instead of written ones as part of the application process and providing script and logistics details earlier.

"It shouldn't be a special thing," Gemma says, "but it does get overlooked".

Meanwhile, Dom, 40, who has cerebral palsy and ADHD, says he wants to support his friend and former business partner Jay's project "as much as I can".

"While it does feel good to help your mates, this has wider implications," he says.

As a journalist and editor of Soundsphere Magazine, he says he has often been subjected to "cheap jokes" when discussing media or arts in the north of England.

"With the cerebral palsy as well, I've always felt a little bit overlooked - and a little bit like the underdog," he says.

"We wanted to take the underdog spirit and put it in the faces of people in London, in New York, across these film festivals, and show we can win awards and show there are wonderful opportunities."

As well as providing opportunities for neurodivergent cast and crew members, there is a focus on recruiting from the North, Dom says.

"Wherever you might be from, there are opportunities for you as a paid actor, a paid creative," he explains.

The film project is "a testament to neurodivergence, northern grit and a bunch of mates just trying to help each other out and seeing if we can", he adds.

For Jay, the characters in the film "represent different parts of a neurodivergent experience or a lived experience".

However, he says they are "not overt" and instead "sort of a coded subtext" to ensure no viewers feel excluded.

"We want everyone to be able to watch the film and enjoy it for what it is," he says.

"But I think the people who have had these experiences can watch it and hopefully see themselves in those characters and get some inspiration from that."

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