It's hard to know what you're gonna get from indie cinema considering the restraints in budget and talent available. But by the looks, Dachi and co pulled together a lot of talent for this dark fable about societal rage and revenge. I remember seeing his debut short film at a festival in 2021 and being quite impressed, but this is not the type of film I thought he would go on to make. And maybe that was naive of me, considering how his debut film deconstructed the way horror movies are made, maybe it makes sense he would go on to make a fake documentary that is constantly blurring the lines between perspectives and leaving the viewer unsure of who is in control of the narrative (much like most true crimes, two sides to every story eh?)
It's slow burning at the start, one can only think of "The Manchurian Candidate"'s publicity notices of "if you arrive after 5 minutes, you won't know what this story is about". And that's a good thing, I think viewers should be engaging more with cinema regardless of the maker.
35 minutes or so is the turning point, a dark turning point as we start to realize where this tale is going. It's cleverly told with slick editing (love some of the mirroring and foreshadowing in montages) and possibly one the best musical scores I've heard in an indie feature coming from Ireland, if not further afield. The two leads are the cream that rise to the top in terms of the on-camera talent. Their home video footage feels very personal and natural while being eerily unsettling, similar to the tapes from Columbine or some other well-covered massacre. The strangest thing about this film is that it feels like something that has happened or is going to happen, and given the tense political climate of Ireland today, would you be surprised?
I think it'll lose some people, it's not a standard film nor does it want to be. It's a pseudo documentary that sometimes blurs the lines between fly on the wall and third person perspective and that is something that may be lost on the average viewer. It's slow at the start but it picks up pace and doesn't stop until about two minutes from the end. I look forward to seeing what Sau Dachi does next as I feel this is a very strong start in a director's career. I like seeing filmmakers tell stories in interesting ways, and "Suit Hung Tied Tongue" is definitely one of those stories. Bualadh bos to everyone involved.
