+ Reviews

★★★★ Dir: Emerald Fennell Starring: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham Sky Cinema Premiere & Now TV (from April 16)

NOVEL A Good Father

by Catherine Talbot (Penguin) Reviewer: Aoife O’regan

Des is the titular ‘good father’ in Talbot’s unflinching new novel – also ‘a damn good husband, and a damn good cook’. At least that’s what he tells himself, but the real Des is decidedly different from the version he presents to the world. On the opening page, Des reveals he plans to murder his wife and children. ‘I am not insane. I am not afraid’, he assures us. What follows is his justification for what he’s about to do. Talbot flits between past and present to show how this toxic relationship developed. Des was drawn to aspiring artist Jenny at a gallery opening and set about winning her over. ‘How do you make someone fall in love with you? You use charm, but there has to be depth to it’, he concludes, as if it’s something she must be tricked into. Despite priding himself on his ‘impeccable treatment of women’, the pattern he follows – from subtle emotional manipulation to full-blown violence – is typical of an abuser. The slaps and shoves are ‘discipline’. He takes pleasure in sabotaging her artwork. We never hear Jenny’s side because his is the only perspective that matters. Talbot serves up a disturbing profile of a sociopathic mind here.

SHORT STORIES The End of the World is a Cul de Sac

by Louise Kennedy (Bloomsbury) Reviewer: Donal O’donoghue

This is an impressive debut, short stories that pulse with purpose and peopled with flesh and blood characters in a world that you know because you’ve seen it and probably walked some of it too. The title story opens proceedings with Sarah, abandoned wife of the ‘gangster’ who built a ‘ghost’ estate and then skedaddled when the manure hit the fan, tottering tentatively into a watching world.

Primal urges and desires (murderous, carnal and often cruel) bleed into these lives coloured by ancient rites like St Brigid’s Day and Garland Sunday and folklore (the cursed ghost estate is called ‘Hawthorn Close’). ‘In Silhouette’ traces the horror of The Troubles, all the more disturbing for hinting at the blood and guts: not that Kennedy is shy of giving us the entrails (‘Hunter-gatherers’).

There is some cross pollination. Sid and Siobhan from ‘Hunter-gatherers’, briefly pop up in ‘Imbolc’ and the darkness is leavened with humour (in ‘Powder’, a mother spoons her son’s ashes “into sachets as though he was a street drug she was getting ready for sale”). So much meat to chew on in a collection that will be hard to

One of the most remarkable and relevant dramas to be released so far this year, Emerald Fennell’s debut feature heads straight to the small screen having been nominated for five Oscars and six BAFTAS. Carey Mulligan top-lines as Cassie, the promising young woman of the title, who once had everything going for her but now finds herself, at the age of 30, in a ho-hum job and living at home with her parents. It’s clear that a traumatic event in her past (no spoilers here) is the cause and Cassie’s energies are now focused on redemption; redressing the wrongs inflicted by certain men in particular and the culture of toxic masculinity in general.

On the surface, this is a revenge drama, yet it offers neither the grainy look nor the unnerving tone of (say) I Spit On Your Grave. Instead, the visual palette offers bright, pastel colours, deliberately mirroring the dangerous allure of its protagonist. “This is a young woman with a multicoloured manicure.” explains Emerald Fennell, “and nobody thinks that she can use those nails to scratch their eyes out.”

As you would expect from a key scriptwriter on Killing Eve, Promising Young Woman flits easily between a variety of genres. The political message is unflinching, yet many sequences would fit easily into a romantic comedy, while others are more typical of race-against-time thrillers. In short, Promising Young Woman manages to be both stylish and unsettling at the same time.

It’s a big ask of any movie to juggle so many genres, but Promising Young Woman delivers in spades. Carey Mulligan is the key, thoroughly convincing in every aspect of her persona and delivering arguably the performance of her career. Meanwhile, Emerald Fennell has announced herself as a triple-threat: actress, writer and now director of note.