GOD’S CREATURES 15
Family lies… ★★★★★ OUT 31 MARCH CINEMAS
Marking the feature debut of co-directors Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer, this brooding drama is set in a remote corner of Ireland where secrets are as commonplace as fishing boats. Paul Mescal plays Brian, who returns to his windswept village after seven years to revive his grandfather’s defunct oyster farm. The beloved son of Aileen (Emily Watson), Brian’s a charmer who sees every woman in town as a potential conquest. But when one of his mum’s co-workers (Aisling Franciosi) accuses Brian of assault, Aileen feels duty-bound to cover up for him – a fateful decision that obliges everyone in the close-knit community to pick a side.
Watson deftly conveys pent-up anguish and escalating dismay, while Mescal essays subtle, insinuating menace. And Franciosi is simply riveting, her angelic features gradually hardening into righteous fury. She has the voice of an angel too, delivering a haunting ballad during one of the melancholy funeral wakes punctuating the narrative.
Davis and Holmer do a fine job unpicking the web of lies, loyalties and blind spots that underpins life in this coastal enclave. True, after a gripping build-up, it’s a little disappointing that they can’t quite deliver the climactic emotional punch the story demands. But the lengthy final shot is one to cherish, conjuring the same feels as the celebrated departure that caps The Long Good Friday.