Directors: Patrick McGivney, Robert Higgins

Stars: Danielle Galligan, Éanna Hardwicke, Gary Lydon, Lorcan Cranitch,

This measured low-key drama explores the fallout after a life-changing incident in the life of a young Gaelic football enthusiast. Twentysomething Cian (McGivney) lives in rural Ireland with his morose father (Cranith). When not working at the farm, Cain’s social life, such as it is, involves playing football and drinking and brawling at pubs and clubs with a couple of the lads from the team. A nightclub altercation, cleverly realised in dumb show, results in a severe injury and dizzy spells, which means that Cian is no longer able to play his beloved football and is left to reflect on his options. Meanwhile an old acquaintance Grace (Galligan) has returned from London for a spell to visit her sick dad. Initially, this feels like we are in for a punishing account of spiralling masculinity, but McGivney and Higgins’s no–frills direction is attentive and considered, and the picture sports an impressively self-contained performance from Hardwicke who is able to convey shifting emotions beneath Cian’s taciturn exterior. The relationship between Cian and the more worldly Grace is elegantly sketched out, and the film ends on a note of tentative hope.

David Willoughby

Follow David on @DWill_Crackfilm