Director Gerard Barrett’s follow-up to his debut feature Pilgrim Hill is a sparsely composed but devastatingly honest study of a co-dependent relationship between young Dublin taxi driver John (Jack Reynor) and his alcoholic mother Jean (Toni Collette). Like the emotional equivalent of a massage with a sandpaper loofah, the film leaves you feeling raw and tender, thanks particularly to the knockout performances from the small cast, especially Collette. Nailing the accent, she brings shapes and shadows to a challenging role that, for a change, is worthy of her talent. Reynor is no less impressive in the more reactive part, while Will Poulter shines as John’s feckless, luckier friend.
The only off-note is the over-telegraphed and poorly resolved subplot about an Asian prostitute John ferries about, which feels like some script editor’s duff idea that’s been tacked on to create extra drama, or the vestiges of a longer arc that got left on the cutting room floor. Had those flaws been worked out better, this would have been an immaculate work. Praise is especially due to DoP Piers McGrail for keeping the camera largely still, eschewing that nervous handheld twitching that makes too many indie dramas look the same. Leslie Felperin
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