The trailer was intriguing and I saw it being praised a lot during award season so gave this one a try. I was struggling a bit while deciphering the message and had to check a few YouTube videos. Then when I saw it in context, even the most troubling acts started to make sense.
It's an allegory about depression.
Pádraic and Colm are friends. If not lifelong, considering the age gap, they are still close for quite many years. All of a sudden Colm, the elder one, decides that he has nothing to do with Pádraic any longer. He stops being friends with Pádraic completely. When Pádraic insists on knowing the reason, Colm threatens to cut off his own fingers one after the other each time Pádraic initiates a conversation with him.
This awful clause made the suspension of disbelief very hard, but I pressed on and am thankful for it. While as an audience member, it is hard to come to terms with such a morbid turn of events, upon deeper thinking it does not sound so far-fetched. There is no clear statement about depression or loneliness, yet the uneasiness remains thick in the atmosphere throughout the proclamation of the amputation.
The movie was filmed on Achill Island. Situated off the west coast of Ireland. In many frames, aerial or otherwise, this island looks spellbinding. The fields, sea and the subtle fog indicating the perfect weather are all part of the setting. Yet, the characters are not happy. The primary characters except Pádraic have some or the other form of longing. Pádraic is leisurely comfortable in his way of life. He thinks little and expects even less. Colm's friendship, his sister and his pet donkey are enough to call a life for him. He does not think beyond. Those who read and are intelligent grow restless in the slow speed of life.
In one of the YouTube videos I saw, Mrs McCormick was labelled as the personification of depression and how she must be faced and not be run away from. While the movie never says anything about depression, when looking through that lens the extent to which Colm goes is understandable. The video claims that the reason why Colm forces himself away from Pádraic is to force his friend to do something for himself, probably leave the island for good and explore other opportunities. It's worth watching the movie to see if that happens or not, but that was the closest explanation to his proclamation that I could find.
I wonder if making rational sense is a faculty that remains with someone who is suffering from serious depression. Colm is an older guy and his prime years are behind him, so when he sees the only thing tethering younger Pádraic to the island is his friendship, at least from his side, he decides to end things. Colm, considering his aloof nature, does not explain any of this clearly, which makes Pádraic edgier as the movie progresses.
I loved the acting of all three leads. Colin Farrell is phenomenal. I have seen him in multiple films and seen a variation. The last I saw him was The Penguin in Batman. From that to this earnest simpleton is a great range of performances. Brendon Gleeson and Kerry Condon are good too. I liked how steadfast and yet emotional Kerry portrays Siobhán.
It is a meditative drama, which starts slow like the pace on the island, after the strange pact is uttered, the movie goes emotionally topsy-turvy but remains fairly meditative throughout.
Review by SolBlockedParent2023-10-15T17:26:47Z
The trailer was intriguing and I saw it being praised a lot during award season so gave this one a try. I was struggling a bit while deciphering the message and had to check a few YouTube videos. Then when I saw it in context, even the most troubling acts started to make sense.
It's an allegory about depression.
Pádraic and Colm are friends. If not lifelong, considering the age gap, they are still close for quite many years. All of a sudden Colm, the elder one, decides that he has nothing to do with Pádraic any longer. He stops being friends with Pádraic completely. When Pádraic insists on knowing the reason, Colm threatens to cut off his own fingers one after the other each time Pádraic initiates a conversation with him.
This awful clause made the suspension of disbelief very hard, but I pressed on and am thankful for it. While as an audience member, it is hard to come to terms with such a morbid turn of events, upon deeper thinking it does not sound so far-fetched. There is no clear statement about depression or loneliness, yet the uneasiness remains thick in the atmosphere throughout the proclamation of the amputation.
The movie was filmed on Achill Island. Situated off the west coast of Ireland. In many frames, aerial or otherwise, this island looks spellbinding. The fields, sea and the subtle fog indicating the perfect weather are all part of the setting. Yet, the characters are not happy. The primary characters except Pádraic have some or the other form of longing. Pádraic is leisurely comfortable in his way of life. He thinks little and expects even less. Colm's friendship, his sister and his pet donkey are enough to call a life for him. He does not think beyond. Those who read and are intelligent grow restless in the slow speed of life.
In one of the YouTube videos I saw, Mrs McCormick was labelled as the personification of depression and how she must be faced and not be run away from. While the movie never says anything about depression, when looking through that lens the extent to which Colm goes is understandable. The video claims that the reason why Colm forces himself away from Pádraic is to force his friend to do something for himself, probably leave the island for good and explore other opportunities. It's worth watching the movie to see if that happens or not, but that was the closest explanation to his proclamation that I could find.
I wonder if making rational sense is a faculty that remains with someone who is suffering from serious depression. Colm is an older guy and his prime years are behind him, so when he sees the only thing tethering younger Pádraic to the island is his friendship, at least from his side, he decides to end things. Colm, considering his aloof nature, does not explain any of this clearly, which makes Pádraic edgier as the movie progresses.
I loved the acting of all three leads. Colin Farrell is phenomenal. I have seen him in multiple films and seen a variation. The last I saw him was The Penguin in Batman. From that to this earnest simpleton is a great range of performances. Brendon Gleeson and Kerry Condon are good too. I liked how steadfast and yet emotional Kerry portrays Siobhán.
It is a meditative drama, which starts slow like the pace on the island, after the strange pact is uttered, the movie goes emotionally topsy-turvy but remains fairly meditative throughout.