jackquann-38780

The film makes a brooding attempt to tell an outsiders tale of Ireland's dark history. Bill is the eyes and ears of everyone else in his town and he can see that something is going on at the convent, where women are being held at what were known as Magdalene Laundries. However the attempt to be subtle almost works too well, as almost an hour into the film I still wasn't sure what it was trying to tell me. If you are familiar with Ireland's sordid past with the Catholic church this may appeal to you - for anyone outside of that realm, it really is too slow a burn to make it worthwhile. I wanted to like this film and I am a fan of Cillian Murphy, but the film is severely lacking in direction and storyline to keep the viewer hooked.

The film sets off on a good premise with the teenager who has issues and two parents who no longer live together. I had hopes this might become some kind of psychological thriller or have some kind of 'Sixth Sense' twist about it but unfortunately it is just two hours+ of a teenager moaning about his life and how unfair it is. The parents pander to this almost nauseatingly while ignoring obvious signs - no one is pushing the protagonist to answer the basic questions. I contemplated turning it off about 90 minutes but at that stage I had already invested too much time. I came here because I loved 'The Father' by the same director - Florian Zeller - and I had hoped this might be in the same vein but unfortunately it's a completely different limp kettle of fish and quite disappointing. Even Anthony Hopkins brief cameo isn't enough to save this slow-moving drab.