2 Best Movies to Watch by Lochlann O'Mearáin

Staff & contributors

, 2019

This emotional and moving story is about a mother of four who is forced into homelessness in Dublin. With her husband working in a demanding restaurant job, Rosie is left to take care of the children while trying to find anything resembling accommodation. She starts by seeking the help of the city council, but every facility she calls is full or refuses to welcome them.

As a viewer, the heartbreaking reality of the situation sinks in quickly: Rosie and her husband are priced out and there are too many people in their condition. Their car doesn't fit them. But to her children, relatives, and school officials, Rosie keeps up appearances and doesn't compromise on her overwhelming child care tasks. 

Genre: Drama

Actor: Clare Monnelly, Eva-Jane Gaffney, Johanna O'Brien, Killian Coyle, Lochlann O'Mearáin, Moe Dunford, Molly McCann, Natalia Kostrzewa, Pom Boyd, Sarah Greene, Toni O'Rourke

Director: Paddy Breathnach

It would be easy to define Rose Plays Julie as a cross between Promising Young Woman and Killing Eve, but this psychological thriller turns the camp factor down to zero and makes even just the act of watching somebody else an existential experience. Directors Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy treat this story with stone-cold intensity (perhaps to a fault), transforming their title character from a confused girl to somebody who relishes the power they have to disrupt other people's lives through her mere existence. There's something eerie about it that crawls under your skin if you let it, like a ghost story told among the living.

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Actor: Aidan Gillen, Alan Howley, Ann Skelly, Annabell Rickerby, Catherine Walker, Jack McEvoy, Joanne Crawford, Lochlann O'Mearáin, Orla Brady, Sadie Soverall

Director: Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor