Michael Farr (Ciarn Hinds), a teacher raising his two kids alone since his wife died two years earlier, has been seeing and hearing strange things late at night. He isn’t sure if he is having nightmares, or if he’s experiencing a haunting. Working as a volunteer for an international literary festival, he is assigned to Lena Morelle (Iben Hjejle), an author of books about ghosts and the supernatural. Establishing a rapport with one another, Michael opens up and shares his terrifying experiences with her. However, Lena’s attention is distracted by another novelist, Nicholas Holden (Aidan Quinn), with whom she had a brief affair. The trajectories of these three people lead them into a life-altering collision where the challenges of love, fear of the unknown, and release from the burden of grief are explored.From
Irish playwright Conor McPherson successfully transitions from stage to screen for his third cinematic go-round (after two less successful efforts). Woodworking instructor Michael Farr (Munich’s soulful Ciarn Hinds), who lost his wife two years before, volunteers as a chauffeur for Cobh Cove’s annual literary festival. As the event begins, he sees the ghost of his father-in-law, Malachy (Jim Norton), who isn’t dead, wandering through the townhouse he shares with his two children. Michael seeks advice from Lena Morelle (The Boss of It All’s delicately pretty Iben Hjejle), British author of The Eclipse, a book about ghosts. She suspects Malachy might be close to death. Married American novelist Nicholas Holden (Aidan Quinn in feisty Norman Mailer mode), who had a fling with Lena the previous year, has also arrived in the Cork hamlet, hoping to rekindle the flame, except the divorced Lena finds herself drawn to the soft-spoken widower. If Michael shares her interest, he isn’t quite ready to move on, though the combination of a persistent ghost and a desperate novelist pushes him in unexpected directions. As that trajectory suggests, McPherson’s minor-key movie takes aim at the adult audience, and those accustomed to more sensationalistic fare may find it a little dull. The angular cinematography and minimal special effects produce some genuine chills, but psychology ultimately trumps the paranormal. In that sense, it serves as a welcome throwback to the sophisticated chillers of the 1960s, like The Innocents and The Haunting. –Kathleen C. Fennessy
Review
A film of seductive grace and humour, Quinn and Hinds are brilliant. –Variety
A subtle drama shot through with moments of startling horror. –New York Magazine See more
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