Hostile examines the UK’s Hostile Environment — a term coined by Theresa May in 2012 to describe a set of immigration policies designed to make life so difficult for migrants that they would leave the UK voluntarily. The phrase captured not only a legislative programme, but an atmosphere deliberately cultivated by the state.

More than a decade on, and despite multiple changes in government, the Hostile Environment has not been dismantled. Instead, it has evolved. Immigration has continued to dominate headlines and electoral politics, shaping public debate through successive elections and policy shifts. While high-profile schemes such as the Rwanda asylum plan were ultimately abandoned, the underlying logic of hostility has endured.

From the introduction of the Points-Based Immigration System to sweeping restrictions on work, study and family life — including dramatic increases to visa salary thresholds, cuts to health and social care visas, and bans on student dependants — immigration policy has increasingly framed migrants in terms of economic value and political expediency.

What does it mean to be British?
How does it feel to be told you don’t belong?

These questions remain unresolved. As migration continues to be used as a political football, Hostile invites audiences to reflect on the human cost of policies that have become normalised across the political spectrum. The film examines the profound and often devastating impact the Hostile Environment continues to have on individuals, families, and communities in Britain today.