Movie review: Irish-language psychological thriller Doineann has an intriguing set-up
Doineann has much in common with Scandinavian noir
★★★☆☆
Set on a remote island off the northwest coast of Ireland, Doineann (15A) stars Peter Coonan as Tomás, an investigative reporter who travels to the mainland to interview a source, only to return to find his wife Siobhán and their infant son Oisín missing.
The local Garda detective Labhaoise (Bríd Brennan) is initially baffled, but soon her suspicions are aroused by the strange behaviour of the island’s ferryman and resident oddball, Macdara (Seán T Ó Meallaigh).
Written by Aislinn Clarke and directed by Damian McCann, this Irish-language psychological thriller has much in common with Scandinavian noir, not least of which is Bríd Brennan’s terrific performance as an unorthodox detective whose interest in contemporary fashion petered out sometime around 1978.
She gets strong support from Peter Coonan, who is suitably overwrought as the distraught husband and father, and who is more than a little sinister in his telling anyone who will listen that Siobhán has been suffering from post-partum depression.
Siobhán’s inexplicable disappearance on a tiny island makes for intriguing set-up in a marvellously bleak setting, and especially with the storm of the title fast approaching.
The second half doesn’t really deliver on the promise of the first, however, when Labhaoise’s subtle probing gradually uncovers an awful truth, which, when finally revealed, is nowhere as persuasive as the performances deserve.
(cinema release)
