Thursday, March 3 • 9:45 PM
Winner of the (unofficial, AFI Silver programming team-invented) award for Best Filmmaker Introduction at last year's Toronto International Film Festival, Irish writer/director Kate Dolan's skillfully crafted feature debut is an eerie folk horror set on a north Dublin housing estate, which channels everything from MIDSOMMAR to CARRIE to THE WICKER MAN. When troubled single mother Angela (Carolyn Bracken, DUBLIN MURDERS) unexpectedly disappears following a heated argument with her teenage daughter Char (up-and-coming talent Hazel Doupe, CALM WITH HORSES, FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY), she returns several days later with a few minor personality changes in tow. While Char embraces the differences at first — her mother seems more engaged and less depressed — she can't shake the feeling that something isn't quite right. As Char's suspicions morph into something more serious — all while she deals with bullies at school and a growing sense of isolation — long-buried family secrets begin to surface that suggest sinister forces at work. Mixing social realism with fantasy and horror, Dolan uses a taut supernatural thriller to cleverly delve into deeper questions around identity, mental illness and generational trauma.
Credits: DIR/SCR Kate Dolan; PROD Deirdre Levins. Ireland, 2021, color, 93 min. In English. NOT RATED
