30 October 2026 | By Molly Lipson
Team GB athlete Josh Nathan (L) is set to make his acting debut in new sports thriller Pommelled written and directed by Jacob Sarkisian. He features alongside former gymnast Jamie Lakin (R), who plays Leo, a slightly struggling athlete training for his last pommel horse session before a major competition. When his session is interrupted by rival Zach (Nathan), it leads to a dangerous and intimate game of violent one-upmanship between the two athletes.
Josh Nathan is a three-time British champion, a two-time World Cup Gold Medalist, and earned a top 10 ranking at the World Championships. He is an official Team GB athlete and is currently training with Max Whitlock for the 2028 LA Olympics in 2028.
Josh Nathan
Jamie Lakin qualified for the British Championships in 2021 and 2023, placed all-round 26th in the UK’s U18 competition and was the U18 regional pommel champion in 2023.
Jamie Lakin
Pommelled is a story about the pursuit of excellence and the personal cost of obsession. Anyone who has ever pursued excellence in a skill or passion and struggled with that will relate to this film, whether that’s a struggle with your own demons or comparing yourself to someone else who is better than you at the thing you love most,” says writer-director Jacob Sarkisian. “This film explores the love-hate relationship of that pursuit, and also touches on male intimacy and masculinity — how young men can be so physically open with one another but, particularly in this realm of high-level athletes, be so shut off, internal and lonely.”
The film is produced by the acclaimed Bea Ralston and Bee Sting Films and new company Sarkisian Films, along with The Developing Room, with Harvey John with Javid Rezai (whose film Belladonna we previously covered on Short Stuff) as Executive Producers. The creative team includes Neal Parsons as DOP and Sydney Aldridge as Casting Director.
The team are currently crowdfunding to help make the film a reality.