Dark comedy short film to spread awareness on menopause, redundancy, and algorithm-based hiring
A new UK short film will be released soon, telling the story of what happens when menopause, redundancy and AI-led recruitment collide at midlife.
The Pause, a 17-minute dark comedy written and directed by Sam Grierson, explores the professional and psychological impact many women experience when hormonal change intersects with job loss and an increasingly automated hiring landscape.
Set and filmed in Birmingham, the film follows Charlie (played by Suzy Bloom) as she is made redundant just as menopause begins to affect her confidence and identity.
As she navigates algorithmic recruitment systems and repeated rejection, the story raises broader questions about relevance, bias and how workplaces interpret performance during midlife transition.
The film also features Louise Osborne in a supporting role, bringing additional cultural visibility to a subject rarely portrayed on screen.
It also featured a cameo voiceover from Miranda Hart and is endorsed by GP and global menopause specialist Dr Louise Newson, who calls it “a vital film that gives voice to women’s experiences.”
The Pause positions menopause as a workforce issue rather than solely a personal health matter.
The film arrives amid increasing concern about midlife female attrition from the workforce.
UK Government research indicates that around one in six women have considered leaving work due to lack of menopause support, while data from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development shows six in ten women say menopause negatively impacts their working lives.
Sam wrote the film from direct experience. She said: “I wrote The Pause because I was surrounded by women who felt stuck, changed and out of step with the world.
“I, too, lost my job and began questioning who I was. If horror is the only language the industry funds, then I’ll use that language, but I’ll use it to say something vital about who we are and who we become.”
Rather than focusing on awareness alone, The Pause explores what happens when organisational systems, from redundancy processes to AI-driven hiring tools, intersect with an often-unrecognised life stage.
From film to workplace action, early screenings of The Pause prompted significant discussion among professional audiences, highlighting a gap between public conversation and practical workplace response.
That response led to the creation of The Pause Powerhouse, a collective of women business owners delivering menopause-focused workplace workshops across the UK.
The programme reframes menopause through the lens of leadership and career transition, organisational culture and wellbeing, workplace inclusion performance, and identity during midlife change
The initiative positions menopause not as an individual challenge to be managed privately, but as a structural workplace consideration with implications for policy, management, and recruitment practices.
