Dublin cab driver John (Reynor) scrambles to cope with his mother Jean (Collette), who has drunk herself into serious illness. As John works overtime to pay the bills and fund her treatment, she carries on drinking, ignoring her 18-year-old son Kit (Nagle), who has Down's Syndrome and lives in a care home. Meanwhile, John's best friend Sean (Poulter) has to pay half his wages to support his young son (Barrett) with his ex (Carlton). As Sean prepares to travel abroad to find work, John works with a counsellor (Smiley) to get his mother into rehab.

Yes, this is a bleak story without much hope in it, although there are happy moments that show the life these people could have if they weren't so weighed down. Writer-director Barrett never fills in the plot details, building a dark, unsettling tone without explaining what happened in the past or even what is happening now. When John takes a job to earn extra cash, it's unclear quite what he's doing in an empty mansion where a girl is screaming in a bathtub. But in John's eyes, we know that he's utterly freaked out.

Frankly, the film only works because of Reynor's detailed, passionate performance, beautifully portraying a young man who feels overwhelmed after years taking care of his drunken mum and disabled brother. Opposite him, Collette is a fascinating, unpredictable collision of gutsy laughs and fearsome roars as a woman who won't admit she's ill. And in his few scenes Poulter offers a terrific anchor for John, creating warm chemistry as they lean on each other for support, knowing that they'll never realise their dreams.

Even the lighter scenes here are tinged with sadness, such as when John has a drunken "party" with his mother dancing to Tainted Love, followed by a pointed, honest conversation that John has clearly heard before. Sometimes all of this grim reality feels laid on too thickly, but it highlights real issues along the way, including the fact that better education and funding about alcoholism might help maintain the balance for people living precariously on the edge. Otherwise society itself fails.

themes, language

6.Apr.15