I discovered this as i was hunting for Aidan Gillen films, and saw it had decent reviews. I wont go into the plot, as others have already. OK so this is a 'thinky' psychological film, and it reminded me a lot of the film 'The Machinist' (I'd recommend that if you liked this), but without the stylish effects. I thought Gillen would be too 'pretty' to pull off the role of a social misfit, but his acting is brilliant throughout, and his looks even help us to like the character more. His character is good at heart but completely sheltered. The female character is acted very naturally, though there is a certain ambiguity to her. The invalid mother is also well acted, initially I thought she was pretty light-hearted (if a little eccentric) but as the film progresses we see she has several 'other sides' to her personality.
The film has several themes running through it, which to me, were: the growth of the main character's confidence and opinions(which develops possibly into madness), his changing views on religion, and the relationship with his mother, and of course the mystery of what the female neighbour is up to. There was also a lot of emphasis on some kidnapped little girl, but I wasn't quite sure how this fitted in with the story.
For me, one of the best bits in the film is when Francis challenges gloria about her vegan-ism, and to me it was a parallel with religion. He was pretty devout at the start of the film, and defends that Jesus died for us even though we don't all love him. Yet he shouts at Gloria 'you would rather starve to death than eat a hamburger? You would die for a cow that's already dead?' Towards the end of the film, Francis is more outspoken, and is finally breaking free from the world his mother forces him to remain in, but his obsession with Gloria's eating habits start to rule his life. The whole thing is very ambiguous, and we don't know if it is true or he is just imagining it, and no there is no conclusion at the end! which keeps us guessing.
In terms of style, its not the most eye-pleasing film. As i've said it is similar to The Machinist in it's dreary depiction of life and the surreal, repetitive shots used. The music is fairly un-noticeable throughout the film apart from the blasts of rock music at Francis' workplace, which helps to break up the monotony of the sets used, as its mostly set in Francis or Glorias apartments. the music at the opening credits is very creepy and Silent Hill-ish! Overall I'd say you'll enjoy this if you like psychological films you have to think about. There's little action, and basically no horror, but an interesting watch. My only complaint is that the film is way too long, pretty slow paced and tends to drag on too much in the first half. But give it a go!
The film has several themes running through it, which to me, were: the growth of the main character's confidence and opinions(which develops possibly into madness), his changing views on religion, and the relationship with his mother, and of course the mystery of what the female neighbour is up to. There was also a lot of emphasis on some kidnapped little girl, but I wasn't quite sure how this fitted in with the story.
For me, one of the best bits in the film is when Francis challenges gloria about her vegan-ism, and to me it was a parallel with religion. He was pretty devout at the start of the film, and defends that Jesus died for us even though we don't all love him. Yet he shouts at Gloria 'you would rather starve to death than eat a hamburger? You would die for a cow that's already dead?' Towards the end of the film, Francis is more outspoken, and is finally breaking free from the world his mother forces him to remain in, but his obsession with Gloria's eating habits start to rule his life. The whole thing is very ambiguous, and we don't know if it is true or he is just imagining it, and no there is no conclusion at the end! which keeps us guessing.
In terms of style, its not the most eye-pleasing film. As i've said it is similar to The Machinist in it's dreary depiction of life and the surreal, repetitive shots used. The music is fairly un-noticeable throughout the film apart from the blasts of rock music at Francis' workplace, which helps to break up the monotony of the sets used, as its mostly set in Francis or Glorias apartments. the music at the opening credits is very creepy and Silent Hill-ish! Overall I'd say you'll enjoy this if you like psychological films you have to think about. There's little action, and basically no horror, but an interesting watch. My only complaint is that the film is way too long, pretty slow paced and tends to drag on too much in the first half. But give it a go!