| Director | Sean Ellis |
|---|---|
| Genre | comedy drama, drama film, magic realist film |
| Runtime | 102 min |
| Country | Brazil, United Kingdom |
| Box office | $2.3 million |
After a painful breakup with his girlfriend Suzy, art student Ben Willis develops insomnia. To take his mind off Suzy and to occupy the extra waking hours he has recently gained, Ben begins working at a local Sainsbury's supermarket, where he meets colourful co-workers. Among them is his colleague Sharon, with whom he soon develops a mutual crush. As his personal means to escape the boredom inherent in the night shift, Ben lets his imagination run wild. In particular, he imagines that he can stop time so that he can walk around in a world that is "frozen" like the pause of a film. He imagines female patrons of the supermarket stopped in time, allowing him to undress and draw them.
A series of flashbacks occur with each progression of the plot, accompanied by Ben's narration and an examination of the effect the situation had had upon him. He explains how he always has been impressed by the beauty of the female body: how he, as a young boy, witnessed a Swedish boarder walk naked from the shower to her room. In another flashback, the young Ben and his best friend Sean share Sean's discovery of his parents' adult magazines, and Sean pays a neighborhood girl called Natalie fifty pence to show him her vulva. Other neighborhood boys repeat this trade.
Ben's boss, Alan Jenkins, recruits the staff for a weekend football game and, after an embarrassing defeat, 26–0, Ben's mind wandered elsewhere, imagining he is not alone in moving around a time-stopped world. When Jenkins throws a party to honor his own birthday and as a consolation for their defeat, Sharon asks Ben to be her date, to which he eagerly but nervously agrees. Ben, on Jenkins' behalf and with Sean's help, hired a stripper for the party. During the party, Sean realized the stripper is Natalie while Ben encounters his ex-girlfriend Suzy, who implores him to try their relationship again. Ben refuses her advance, but she kisses him. Sharon who had just rebuffed Jenkins' drunken advances, witnesses the kiss from afar and angrily leaves the party. Ben realizes Sharon has seen the kiss. He seeks to explain himself to Sharon at her apartment, and a confrontation similar to the film-opening breakup occurs. Sharon henceforth does not show up to work at the supermarket. He spent days re-imagining that fateful event frozen in time, eventually concluding that he can't correct the mistake.
As a practical joke, colleagues Barry and Matt phone Ben; Matt poses as an art gallery owner who is interested in displaying Ben's drawings and schedules an appointment for Ben to present more to him. When Ben arrives as agreed, the reaction of the owner quickly reveals that he has been pranked. However, the gallery owner is nonetheless interested in Ben's work and decides to exhibit Ben's drawings. Sharon receives an invitation to the exhibition and visits. She is moved as most of the pieces depict her and she happily greets Ben, congratulating him on his success. This leads to the finale where the two reconcile, kiss, and step outside into a time-frozen snowfall.