Niamh Algar is in good company, joining the likes of Florence Pugh, Ciarán Hinds and Toby Jones on this tragic yet compelling story set 13 years after the Great Famine. Adapted from the bestselling novel by Emma Donoghue (of Room fame), The Wonder is inspired by true stories of the 19-th century ‘fasting girls’ phenomenon and tells the tale of a young girl who claims to have gone months without eating – subsisting solely on manna from heaven.
Colm Bairéad’s THE QUIET GIRL, which is Ireland’s entry in the Best International Film Oscar race this year, has punched through the €1m ($971,000) box office ceiling in a record-breaking performance for an Irish-language feature. “We are truly humbled by the manner in which audiences in Ireland and the UK have embraced our film. To every single person who bought a ticket for The Quiet Girl and who championed the film since its release in May, we say thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” said director and writer Bairéad and producer Cleona Ní Chrualaoi of Inscéal.
28-year-old Ronan will star in Steve McQueen’s upcoming WWII drama BLITZ, which follows a group of Londoners during the aerial bombardment of their city. The confirmation of Ronan’s casting only adds further prestige to the upcoming project, given she is currently one of Hollywood’s brightest stars. Already a four-time Oscar nominee before the age of 30, the young Dublin actress can currently be seen in mystery comedy SEE HOW THEY RUN.
THE WONDER, Netflix’s upcoming film which is set in the Irish Midlands in 1862, will be released on the streaming platform on November 16. The psychological thriller, which is an adaptation of the Emma Donoghue novel of the same name, with a cast that includes Florence Pugh, Ciarán Hinds, Niamh Algar, Brían F O’Byrne, Elaine Cassidy and her daughter, Kíla Lord Cassidy, has Chilean director Sebastián Lelio (A Fantastic Woman, Gloria) behind the lens.
The hit Irish-language drama AN CAILÍN CIÚIN (THE QUIET GIRL) has secured North American distribution as it continues its push to make the shortlist for Best International Feature Film at next year’s Oscars. Last month, the Colm Bairéad-directed coming-of-age story was selected by the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) as Ireland’s entry for the Best International Feature Film race at the 2023 Academy Awards.
For his 100th film, Irish legend Liam Neeson is set to star in Oscar-winning director Neil Jordan’s upcoming noir thriller MARLOWE. Recently acquired by Open Road Films, this gripping period piece boasts a stacked cast of stars embroiled in a 1930’s mystery of unexpected twists, and with Neeson involved, it’s fair to expect a heart-pounding shoot-out and brooding intensity. With its acquisition, MARLOWE sets its theatrical wide release for this December.
THE FORGIVEN is written and directed by John Michael McDonagh, whose debut feature was the glorious THE GUARD in 2011. The film follows David and Jo Henninger (Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain, respectively), a self-aggrandising husband and wife spending the weekend at their friend’s mansion in Morocco. After striking down a local boy with their car, the movie follows the effect the incident has on both the visitors and the locals. Things get more complicated when the father of the boy wishes for David to come with him to bury his son.
Michael Flatley has urged young people to “go for it” as he spoke about his motivation for making his debut feature film, saying people had told him it was “impossible”. The dancer and choreographer, 64, has written, directed and also stars in the spy thriller BLACKBIRD, in which he plays former MI6 operative Victor Blackley who is drawn back into a world of espionage he left behind. The film screened at the Monaco Streaming Film Festival last year, where Flatley picked up the best actor award.