My Review of God's Creatures (2022)

 

Written by Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly And Shane Crowley

Directed by Saela Davis And Anna Rose Holmer

Sarah: "I suppose every house around here has the same ghosts. I wonder how they'd tell them all apart if they came back."

Following the birthday of leading man Paul Mescal, I decided to check one of the few movies of his that I haven't seen before I get to Hamnet later this month. I chose this one. Also, it's an Irish movie and I want to review more of those for this blog.

Set in a remote small Irish fishing village (they never specify where exactly), we've got a young man named Brian O'Hara (Paul Mescal). He's returned from Australia and his mother Aileen (Emily Watson) might be one of the few people actually to see him back.

It's established early in the film that Brian had an antagonistic relationship with his father, Con (Declan Conlon) and Brian himself was also vague about what happened when he was living Down Under. Brian also wanted to revive the family oyster business while Aileen was a manager at a seafood processing plant. 

Then there's Sarah Murphy (Aisling Franciosi). She's experienced marital problems with her husband, Francie (Brendan McCormack) and then she fell faint as a result of the oyster containing fungus. Of course that wasn't the worst part for poor Sarah.

It turned out that Brian assaulted her and Aileen had given him an alibi, which caused a lot of friction in the village. That friction only worsened at the funeral of Aileen's father in law, Paddy (Lalor Roddy). 

Brian's actions negatively impacted both Aileen and Sarah, essentially making them both outcasts in the village. On top of that, Aileen had to deal with the fact that her own son was a rapist and as a result, there's a final comeuppance for Brian that little to make either Aileen or Sarah feel better about themselves.

- A moratorium was declared on Aileen's place of work because of the fungus in the oysters.

- Fungus can cause long term health risks but oddly enough, it doesn't cause food poisoning.

- Standout music: Aisling Franciosi's version of I The Lord Of Sea And Sky was rather nice.

- Chronology: Present day, small Irish fishing village. The movie was shot in Donegal.

A gothic tale, I really liked God's Creatures. An interesting setting with a well handled set of themes. There's top notch performances from Emily Watson, Paul Mescal and Aisling Franciosi.

Rating: 7 out of 10