Maggots tells an inherently downbeat, pessimistic story but Farah Najib's writing constantly upends this, leaving you feeling like you've watched a story of hope, however many times its narrators assure you of the contrary. Sam Baker Jones, Safiyya Ingar and Marcia Lecky are those narrators, reminding you at the outset that they're actors and the story isn't true ("but it could be") in an unfussy style that's typical of Najib's story and Jess Barton's production: They tell the story of Linda, who one day during a heatwave googles "what does death smell like?" She's got a nasty suspicion about the sickly-sweet smell that's coming from somewhere in her block of flats, and asks the building's WhatsApp group if they've seen the woman in number 61 recently, but gets no response. The story gently adds more characters as other neighbours start to notice something wrong, beginning with the young mother on the other side of the flat.
