The Sparrow

No CGI, no special effects in this film..... Just a strong story, developed around its characters, with the backdrop of Irish nature, exploited in an elegant and functional way for the story.

There are exciting and dramatic moments during the movie but the real strong point is, in my humble opinion, the careful study of the protagonist character, a sensitive teenager and of his father, an exceptional David O'Hara in one of the performances best of his entire career.

The viewing was never tiring or boring, although the drama is very intense. This is due to the fact that every scene was constructed very well (with the exception of a couple of very avoidable sequences towards the end).

Big fan of Irish movies being Irish myself and always willing to give them a chance. I am by no means a professional critic I'm just going off what I interpret and I can only say unfortunately if you are thinking about going to see this film give it a miss. Acting is very poor by lead characters especially Kevin and Hanna. Some of the supporting casts don't do too bad Eanna Hardwicke and David O Hara. I can see what it was trying to do with the story line but the characters were too emotionless and stoic. That for me set the tone and I personally found it very hard to connect to the characters after that but again this is just my opinion and how I interpret it. Directing was poor and there was too much filler in an already short film that felt like it took an eternity to end.

Kevin is a 17-year-old who lives with his overbearing father and two siblings, where his older brother is about to join the Army .

Kevin however tries to overcome the loss of his mother, and this makes him isolate himself, and get into trouble with the police but things will take an unexpected turn, when the young man after an accident, he will cause a death,that will once again bring a tragedy to the family .Kevin he will be tortured if he has to confess the act ,or take the guilty secret with him Against the background of a magical and remote town in Ireland, the director who had previously written the film stranger land with Nicole Kidman ,presents us with a psychological drama, but Emotional, with excellent performances ,mainly by the protagonist Olie west ,but also the great actor David o hara It's a story that becomes moving at the end, while it has a beautiful direction, nice photography ,and you want to see the final Movies conclusion .

I saw the sparrow at a film festival in Greece in a city called Thessaloniki, and the director together with the female producers were at the screening ,where after the end of the film, he gave a good QaA ,of how he was inspired to write the film, and other movie details.

He was also quite friendly with everyone ,and it was a nice experience to see the film, and meet him.

The Sparrow, although slightly foreboding at some points, and you may have seen the ending in other works with a similar theme, however it is a film playing with moral statements of the protagonists, human relationships, but also a death in the family and how it affects the characters I recommend that you see it in the cinema or at home and it will surely makes you think.