There’s something deeply unsettling about waking up to faces you don’t recognize, in a place you’ve never been, carrying a child you can’t remember conceiving. This is the nightmare that greets Anna in Alan Friel’s debut feature WOKEN, and for much of its runtime, the film mines this premise for genuine psychological terror.
Friel, who cut his teeth directing commercials and shorts including CAKE with Maxine Peake, understands the power of atmosphere. His windswept Irish island, filmed across County Clare and County Limerick, becomes a character unto itself—all howling winds, dripping cottage roofs, and flickering candlelight that casts dancing shadows on walls that seem to hold secrets. This is a world stripped of modern conveniences, where paraffin lamps replace electricity and wood-burning stoves fight against an endless chill. The absence of phones, televisions, or any connection to the outside world feels deliberate, calculated even.
Anna awakens to this pre-digital purgatory after what she’s told was a terrible fall, though we’ve witnessed something far more disturbing—her desperate flight toward a cliff edge, pursued by unseen forces. Screen Star of Tomorrow Erin Kellyman, known from SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY, brings a raw vulnerability to Anna that makes her confusion and growing paranoia palpable. She’s surrounded by people who claim to love her—her supposed husband James, played with careful ambiguity by Ivanno Jeremiah, and the nurturing Helen, embodied by Peake with just the right balance of maternal warmth and underlying menace.
Friel demonstrates a keen eye for the sinister potential lurking within the mundane. The rhythmic hammering of crab shells during dinner becomes a percussion of dread. A collection of identical yellow baby jackets, hand-knitted with obsessive care, transforms from touching preparation into something deeply unsettling. Even the arrival of strangers on a absurdly incongruous swan-shaped pedalo manages to feel threatening rather than whimsical.
The director skillfully plants seeds of doubt about everything Anna encounters. Are the photo albums and home movies genuine memories or elaborate fabrications? Is Helen’s cardigan-clad concern authentic or performance? The whispered conversations Anna overhears, the glimpses of hidden firearms, the growing certainty that escape from this island sanctuary might be impossible—all contribute to a mounting sense of paranoia that keeps both Anna and the audience off balance.
DERRY GIRLS darling @nicolacoughlan returns to our TVs in I AM HELEN.
This critically acclaimed BAFTA-winning anthology series pairs Coughlan with PEAKY BLINDERS star Joe Cole!
Watch new trailer now via 🔗︎ in bio!
BROOKLYN fans, this one is for you 🎬
Caitríona Balfe is back in a Colm Tóibín adaptation, and A LONG WINTER lands in cinemas this January 2027. Based on Tóibín’s 2006 short story, the film casts Caitríona as Louise, a mother at the heart of a stark, emotional drama.
More details via 🔗︎ in bio!
Mayo`s own @philippa.dunne is pure joy!
On this week`s @latelaterte, Philippa shares childhood memories of growing up in Mayo that shaped her, and what it’s really like to bring unforgettable characters to life on screen.
If you love Irish screen stories told by the people who live them, watch now via 🔗︎ in bio!
Everyone`s favourite Andrew returns to the @britishfilminstitute London Film Festival with his new film ELSINORE.
Few actors of the stage and screen have attracted as much acclaim in recent years as Andrew Scott, both for the emotional depth of his performances and for the subtlety and nuance he brings to them.
Watch now via 🔗︎ in bio!
Like father, like son!
Aran Murphy is following in his father Cillian`s footsteps with a major role in the new @sharonhorgan show YOUTH.
The 19-year-old is relatively new to the acting world but has had a very busy few months as of late, stepping out on red carpets and giving plenty of interviews for his first roles.
Let`s hear it for Ireland`s next wave of amazing acting talent!
Colin Farrell hit the @thegrahamnortonshowofficial couch this weekend!
Farrell reveals a new haircut (!) and how he was initially reluctant to take accept his role in the classic IN BRUGES.
Watch now via 🔗︎ in bio!
One question that has haunted Ireland for decades ⚖️
In RE-CREATION, the new film from Jim Sheridan, the story is built on the real 1996 murder of Sophie Toscan Du Plantier, and Colm Meaney never hands you a verdict. The veteran actor trusts you to argue it out yourself 🎬
More details via 🔗︎ in bio!
“This is the Ireland I always believed existed.”
July 13, 1985. Two stadiums. One mission. Queen, U2, Bowie, Elton John, Madonna, McCartney, all on one day to fight famine in Ethiopia. And five Irish women who wanted to donate their wedding rings!
More details of Bob Geldof`s LATE LATE SHOW appearance via 🔗︎ in bio!
Let’s hear it for Jamie Dornan 👏
He’s back as an American career criminal, always one step ahead, in 12 12 12 on Apple TV, going toe to toe with Anthony Mackie in a cat-and-mouse game across Europe. And this time he’s also an executive producer, helping shape the story as well as starring in it.
NEW trailer via 🔗︎ in bio!
