It could be another big year at the Oscars for Irish actors, directors and writers with these epic films hitting the big screen in the coming months…
Saltburn
Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn, starring Irish actor Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi was released just last weekend and its style and opulence has us hooked. Are we surprised, however, when Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman was as unbelievably stylish and engrossing for the harrowing yet completely loveable story that it was?
No spoilers here, but what we have seen from the trailer so far is the sunlit English countryside, parties and wealth, mixed with the talented cast which also includes Rosamund Pike, Richard E Grant and Carey Mulligan. Sounds promising!
Oscar nominated for his mesmerising role of Dominic in The Banshees of Inisherin, Keoghan will play Oliver, a so-called scouser who begins at Oxford University and finds himself drawn into the world of a charming and arsitcratic classmate, Felix (Euphoria’s Jacob Elordi). Felix invites Oliver to his eccentric family’s sprawling estate in the university town of Saltburn – for a summer never to be forgotten. The mystery, the glamour, the intrigue – we cannot wait!
Saltburn is out now, but until your cinema-stop watch the trailer here.
All of Us Strangers
Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal star in All of Us Strangers – a mystic, film of grief, love and the power of memory that we cannot wait to get our hands on. Directed and co-written by Andrew Haigh, who is previously known for his gay romance drama Weekend and the 2017 coming-of-age film Lean on Pete; the film is based on Taichi Yamada’s 1987 Japanese psychological novel Stranger.
The plot centres around a 40-something year old screenwriter Adam (Scott) who lives alone in a nearly deserted high-rise outside of London. After an encounter one night, Adam starts a fledgeling relationship with his mysterious neighbour Harry (Mescal). Adam is drawn back to the past and specifically to his childhood home. When he returns he discovers that his parents (played by The Crown’s Claire Foy and Rocketman’s Jamie Bell), who had died tragically when he was a child, are still alive there as young people, 30 years on.
With this standout cast and engrossing storyline – the film is destined to have us glued to our seats and leave us contemplating afterwards. The iconic screen duo of Andrew Scott – formerly known as the “Hot Priest” from Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag – and one of Normal People’s breakout stars and Best Actor Oscar Nominee for his role in Aftersun, Paul Mescal is one to watch – literally! All of Us Strangers hits Irish cinemas on December 22, following a premiere at the New York Film Festival. See the trailer here.
Flora and Son
Well, we certainly couldn’t get enough of Eve Hewson in Bad Sisters so imagine our utter delight when we saw the release of the Irish production and musical inspiration Flora and Son. Helmed by John Carney, director of both Once and Sing Street – we knew this film was in expert hands. Filled with music, heart and incredible familial chemistry, Flora and Son will tick all of your creative boxes and leave you feeling fulfilled.
Hewson plays hot-headed Flora, a single mom who is at war with her son Max, played by the incredible Orén Kinlan in his first major role in a feature film. In trying to find a hobby for Max, Flora rescues a guitar from a skip and through the help of guitar tutor Joseph Gordon Levitt, finds that one person’s rubbish can be a family’s salvation. Also featuring Amy Huberman, Jack Reynor and scenes of Dublin city – this beautiful cast and storyline is quite something to behold and this film is certainly something you take with you. Flora and Son is in cinemas now, watch the trailer here.
The Lesson
Our Bad Sisters obsession continues – spotted in this epic physchological thriller is Tipperary-born Daryl McCormack – but he is far from his character Matthew Claffin in this slick, dark and stylish flick.
Directed by Alice Troughton, known for her direction of Baghdad Central and her work on award-winning show The Living and The Dead, the film follows Liam (McCormack) an aspiring and ambitions young writer who eagerly accepts a tutoring position at the family estate of his idol, renowned author JM Sinclair (played by Oscar-nominee Richard E Grant). Quickly Liam realises that he has walked into a web of family secrets, resentment and retribution. Sinclair and his wife Hélène (Oscar-nominee July Delpy) and their son Bertie (played by Boiling Point’s Stephen McMillan) all guard a dark past that threatens Liam’s future as well as their own. Out in cinemas now, this taut noir thriller snaps you up immediately – even the trailer does!
Fingernails
Irish star Jessie Buckley plays Anna in upcoming film Fingernails, alongside The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White, Riz Ahmed, Luke Wilson and Schitt’s Creek hoot Annie Murphy.
Fingernails dons the impressive genre of a science fiction romance, written and directed by Christos Nikou. The plot centres around Anna (Buckley) who is proven to have found true love in Ryan (Allen White) by way of a Black Mirror-esque new technology that determines couples’ compatability – using their fingernails it seems. However, Anna still isn’t sure she has found it. She takes a position at a love testing institute and meets Amir (Ahmed) and she is left questioning herself, the system and true love.
Buckley is captivating as ever and will no doubt bring us along on Anna’s journey of discovery with some laughs, some tears and a little music we hope! Out on November 3 watch the trailer before it lands in cinemas.
Wicked Little Letters
Studiocanal released the new trailer for Wicked Little Tears with Jessie Buckley and Olivia Coleman and it is HILARIOUS. This razor-sharp comedy is directed by Thea Sharrock (Me Before You) and is written by actor and screenwriter Jonny Sweet (Chickens, Greed.)
The two cinematic legends Buckley and Colman reunite on screen (having acted together in The Lost Daughter) but this time they let it all out – every single last f***, s*** and b***! The full spectrum of profanity – and it is something to enjoy and brighten up your February (release date for Ireland is Friday 23rd February.)
Based on a stranger than fiction true story, Wicked Little Letters follows two neighbours; deeply conservative local Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) and rowdy Irish migrant Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley) in a A 1920s English seaside town who bears witness to a farcical and occasionally sinister scandal in this riotous mystery comedy. Edith and fellow residents begin to receive wicked letters full of unintentionally hilarious profanities and foul-mouthed Rose is charged with the crime. However, as the town’s women – led by Police Officer Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan) – begin to investigate the crime themselves, they suspect that something is amiss, and Rose may not be the culprit after all. Until Frebruary, enjoy the trailer; www.youtube.com