Suit Hung. Tied Tongue.

When something is indie you really do have to cut it slack when it comes to certain aspects of filmmaking. While I wasn't crazy about a lot of the acting in this debut feature from Sau Dachi, I feel there's a very promising and ambitious director behind the camera. I have never seen an indie film tackle such a huge issue ( a national crime that sparks outrage) and do it in a way that at times feels leagues above what an indie film should be capable of. I feel this film has been getting a lot of unfair treatment in the ratings section so I'm here to set the record straight as an aged cineaste who has seen A LOT of stuff....so here we go. Watch it, it's good, at times epic, at times slow, at times the acting is questionable but it's believable and captures a real disdain for authority and government that I think is becoming very tangible in Europe. Well done everyone involved. I would love to see what this crew could do with an actual budget.

The film plays out in a way that very closely mimics found footage journalism of the modern day with an amazing sense of realism and authentic portrayals of each character.

The amazing cast brings something unique to each role in which the movie could have focused on any of them as a protagonist. However the title character of Sean and Freddie played by Paul St Leger and Alex Eydt shows an amazingly sincere representation of a brotherly bond despite horrific circumstances.

Alex Eydt brings a wealth of talent with his convincing portrayal of a loyal younger brother wrapped up in a conspiracy, as well as his amazing performances of both the song and the poem he composed.

Paul St Leger tops the bill for a reason with an amazing portrayal of a caring brother, a loving boyfriend, an angry son and a calculating charismatic revolutionary. Paul truly steals the show while supporting his fellow cast members with genuine reactions and delivery of great dialogue by Sau Dachi. Paul frames the story of a multifaceted characters evolution into a ruthless radicalist walking a narrow line between fiction and reality

William Morgan as minister Paul Keogh is a perfect casting as while watching I had to check I was not watch a real political performance, scene for scene William shows a exemplary performance embodying the character of Paul Keogh to perfection.

I really appreciate filmmakers like this who are still out there trying to tell stories. I read this film was made with a budget of 10 thousand euro which is impressive considering the story that is told here. I don't want to spoil it but it was slow in the first 20 mins but by about the 35 min mark I was hooked by it till the end. The story just keeps escalating and makes a great point about who is making decisions for you and the effects it has on society as a whole. If you're looking for a giant epic scale in a CGI world...this is not that. If you're interested in a concisely told story that raises some valid questions, you're gonna have a good time 👍 very clever film.

I was surprised by this irish indie feature i must say. I haven't held much hope for irish cinema in recent years as i feel there are no ambitious or edgy films that tackle real issues in interesting ways. However suit hung tied tongue did exactly that. It is very slickly told, well written piece of dystopian fiction-cum-documentary that at times feels a little too real. I was most impressed by the performance of the two leads playing the halpin brothers along with a wonderful score that can fluctuate between big and bombastic to reflective and sombre. I agree that at times the acting from side characters may not have set the world alight but i am aware of the tiny budget and limitations that the crew would have faced, so i was willing to push that aside. It felt quite grounded and was an accurate reflection of how a lot of young people feel in western society today, bet down by the powers that be and wanting change, drastically.

I very much enjoyed this debut feature film from Sau Dachi. Suit Hung Tied Tongue weaves a dark fable of the dangers of lies and corruption by a dishonest and immoral state. When their mother dies in a health scandal, young Sean Halpin and his idealistic and artistic brother Fred become radicalized against their corrupt government, creating anonymous threatening videos and posting them on an online forum, stating that in a month's time, a top Irish government official will be murdered.

I completely disagree with those who say this film moves "too slowly", maybe our attention spans are getting worse. I was intrigued from the opening and shocked by the end. Talking with a couple of members of the audience, we agreed that despite what your opinion may be on this film, it does feel very grounded. Yes the politicians talk in a heightened way, yes you can have all the inside information on how the police would've caught these killers before they could act on their threats, yes you can slate some of the actors but for christ's sake, it's an independent feature film and a very good one at that. It's entertainment that feeds discussions about state rhetoric ( a lot of which is based in actual reality, sadly). Something I picked up on that i very much appreciated was the detectives discussing which of the brothers was more "willing" or a "ring leader" in the crime. While the older Sean often gets the title of the man with the plan because of his journals based in fact (detailing the government corruption he found from reading and deep-diving online), the detectives and psychoanalysts dismiss the younger Freddie's role, as all of his actions are based in art - making the masks they wear in their threats, writing poems detailing how they will enact revenge. I felt this showed the power of art and how it is often overlooked by governments and heads of state who are only interested in making money. They paid no attention to the poetry, only the journals written by Sean which described how corrupt they were.

It also features a montage about forty minutes in that is one of the most exhilarating, beautiful written, masterfully scored, precisely cut and woefully foreboding sequences I've seen in an Irish or UK feature film in 20 years and these are INDIE FILM MAKERS??

Yeah, it's not perfect. No film is a solid 10 for me, but this is a very strong independent feature film that I hope more people get to see. 7/10.