Tea: BBC 2 Minute Masterpiece
2021
Tea is a short film written and directed by Paul Mulgrew that was selected as part of the BBC 2 Minute Masterpiece series.
It tells the story of a young woman who's met with derision when she orders tea in a trendy coffee shop. The film parodies the characters, attitudes and tribalism born out of Northern Ireland’s burgeoning intoxication with coffee culture. In doing so it approaches concepts of power dynamics and reveals how the behaviour of those who 'belong' is reinforced and performed.
With a background in advertising and a practice that probes theories of neoliberal consumerism, Paul holds coffee as a quintessential example of a commodity sanctified. It is ripe for satirisation.
