Environmental campaigning organisation Greenpeace International has launched SLAPP SUIT, a chilling new film featuring Academy Award-winning actor Javier Bardem and Children’s and Family Emmy Award-nominated actress Yasmin Finney, created by Don’t Panic, directed by Martin Stirling and produced by Partizan.

SLAPP SUIT stars Hollywood legend Bardem as a sinister tailor, whose clients include some of the world’s most powerful polluters such as Shell, Energy Transfer and Chevron. Finney, of Netflix’s Heartstopper, stars alongside Bardem, where she plays a protester who enters his lair.

The 2-minute 20-second film was shot at a historic Savile Row tailor. The location gives the film its central creative conceit: the “suit” as both a garment and a lawsuit, crafted to restrict and silence.

It follows a protester, who finds herself in the tailor’s shop, where she takes in the surroundings, noticing rolls of bespoke pinstripe fabric that spell out the names of global energy corporations. Before she knows it, she’s ensnared by the sinister tailor and measured up herself. 

What follows is a chilling high-octane sequence where the tailor slices, steams and presses a bespoke suit which is held together by stitching that reads ‘GAG ORDER’, ‘SUPPRESSION’ and ‘CEASE AND DESIST’. The suit squeezes the protester so tightly that she struggles to move.

The film reaches a crescendo when the tailor takes his tape measure and literally silences her, tying it around her mouth in a make-shift gag. The tape measure spells out ‘SLAPP’ and ‘SILENCE’ where the numbers should be. The tailor declares that “A good suit should speak for itself” before leaving the protester trapped and alone at the back of the shop. Many people who have faced a SLAPP suit will recognise the sense of isolation and fear of this moment.

The film concludes with the protester straining and grunting before breaking free through the suit, showing viewers that resistance is possible. Then the final moments of the film deliver the enduring message that we each have the strength to resist even in the most sinister attacks on our rights.

Javier Bardem notes, “I made this film with Greenpeace because they’re fighting a monumental legal battle about free speech, but really it’s about something much bigger: widespread attempts to silence activism. The type of lawsuits used by pipeline company Energy Transfer is also being used to silence journalists, artists and ordinary people who care about their communities. The question is not why to speak out. But how could we not, if we want to have the same freedom in the future?”

The end message, “Corporate bullies use SLAPPs to target whistleblowers, journalists, activists, you”, reframes a legal mechanism as a direct threat to anyone who challenges power.

Yasmin Finney adds, “The right to protest in the UK is a huge battle. People demanding better is what built our country, but increasingly it’s becoming criminalised. Not enough people believe or see that our rights are really under threat, and that’s why we made this film: Greenpeace’s legal fight against Energy Transfer is one example of resistance, but there are many more. Bullies respond to strength and togetherness, and that’s what we need more of right now.”

The campaign launches as the use of SLAPPs continues to draw scrutiny across Europe and beyond. The Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe has identified 1,049 SLAPP cases between 2010 and 2023, while Greenpeace International is currently engaged in a landmark anti-SLAPP case in the Netherlands against US fossil fuel pipeline company Energy Transfer.

The Netherlands case is one of the first major tests of the EU’s new anti-SLAPP Directive, with Greenpeace International seeking to hold Energy Transfer accountable under Dutch law for what it describes as abusive litigation aimed at silencing protest and solidarity.

Georgia Stephenson, Creative Director at Don’t Panic London, notes, “SLAPPs are used to intimidate, isolate and bully those who hold power to account. That’s horrific, so leaning into the horror genre made complete sense. Javier Bardem is iconic for bringing menace and control to the screen, and it is quickly, viscerally apparent how much courage is required for Yasmin Finney’s young protester to resist. We wanted people to feel what a SLAPP does before they even understand the acronym.”

The film was directed by Partizan’s Martin Stirling, award-winning director of ‘Most Shocking Second a Day’, which has been viewed over 500 million times and was also made in collaboration with Don’t Panic.

“We are living in a defining moment, one that will be remembered for how the rich and powerful sought to control the narrative, using intimidation, harassment, and the courts to silence ordinary people. This is not a singular issue phenomenon. It is happening across the board, and it demands to be named for what it is….SLAPP suits are a legalised form of fascism. The fact that we must now fight for the basic right to protest, to speak, to dissent, is a measure of how far we have slipped. SLAPP suits are designed not to seek justice, but to bury it. They are a weapon of the powerful against those who critique them, and we should all be alarmed.

The campaign asks viewers to share the film and raise awareness of how SLAPPs are being used against journalists, activists, whistleblowers, organisations and citizens around the world.

 CREDITS:                            IG Handles

CLIENT: Greenpeace International @greenpeace

Head of Programme: Susannah Compton

Global Head of Partnerships: Johanna Grant Axen 

Global Digital Lead: Russell Harvey

Global Comms Lead: Chris Greenberg

Global Digital Lead: Rasmus Ilsø

AGENCY: Don’t Panic @dontpanicldn  

Founder: Joe Wade @joewade

Client and Commercial partner: Jane Marshall @monculdesac

Acting ECD: George McCallum @georgemccallumbakes

Creative Director: Georgia Stephenson @georgialaurenstephens

Creatives: Dan Clarke, Guy Davidson, Joe Wade @mothersbestchild

Midweight Design & Art Director: Katie Richardson @katie.our.son 

Designer: Thiago Valenti @thiagovalenti

Executive Producer: Jennifer Clare Houlihan @jenniferclarehoulihan 

Head of Client Services: Georgia Williams @georgiawilliams26 

Project Managers: Lauren Grant & Ella Soule @iamlaurengrant & @ellasoule 

Junior Marketing Manager: Mollie Knight @mollie_mooo 

PRODUCTION: Partizan @wearepartizan 

Director: Martin Stirling @martinstirling 

Managing Director: Jenny Beckett @jennypartizanuk

Head of Production/EP: Ella More O’Ferrall @ellamoffg

Producer: Charlie Scannell @cheswick_

Production Manager: Will Cousins @will_cousins 

Production Assistant: Loretta Wonke @lorettawonke

Location Manager: Peter Camilleri

       

1st AD: Chris Kelly @chris68kelly
2nd AD: Eddie Kelly @ediemaikelly

Runner: Ted Seymour Kelly @ted.kelly_

Director of Photography: Carl Burke @billyburkedop

1st AC: Pete Wade @nowthenpete
2nd AC: Jack Ainsworth @jack_obyrne_ainsworth
DIT: Mario Radinvic @mario_lcdits

Grip: Rob Barlow @feral_rob

2nd Grip: Melanie Barbieri

Sound: Ludovic Lassreee @soundsfrench
Boom Op: Paulo Frasao @paul_frasao
Playback: Jack Driver @jackjdriver

Gaffer: Norbert Strehile @krabbenorbert

Electricians:  Mats Kastellet, Kristiana Zhekova @mats.kastellet, @kristiana_zhekova

Production Designer: Sarah Kane @sksarahkane
Set Decorator: Delia O’Brien @deliadoesprops

Props Master: Dan Bryant
Art Transport: Rick Seymour

Costume Designer: Siobhan Dillon @siobhan_dillon_tailoring

Costume Supervisor: David Hawkins @davidhstyling
Costume Assistant: Ro Dillon @rodillonphotography

H&MU Artist: Michele Baylis @michelebaylis_

H&MU Assistant: Rosie Mcginn @rosiemcginnmakeup

Medic: Archie Barker @archie_barker53

Camera Car: Alister Bugge @alisterbugge

CAST

 

Tailor: Javier Bardem @bardemantarctic

protester : Yasmin Finney @yazdemand

        

EDIT: Trim Editing