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.
Gothic drama LIES WE TELL is now on Netflix.
With powerful performances by Agnes O`Casey and David Wilmot, the Irish drama takes Sheridan Le Fanu`s classic novel UNCLE SILAS and transforms it into something urgent and vital for our moment.
More at irishfilmtv.com.
When Colin Farrell and Jessie Buckley finally sat down together, they were strangers—but within moments, the conversation became profound.
Both Irish actors are carrying the weight of devastating roles this year: Farrell as a gambling addict spiraling in Macau in BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER, Buckley as Agnes Shakespeare grieving her son in HAMNET.
Watch now at irishfilmtv.com.
From FAIR CITY to KNIVES OUT! Daryl McCormack shines in the new #netflix film WAKE UP DEAD MAN.
McCormack just wrapped Netflix`s PRIDE AND PREJUDICE opposite Jack Lowden, Emma Corrin, and Olivia Colman. Talk about range: trading viral grift for Jane Austen elegance. Same actor, different century, wildly different moral compass.
More Daryl at irishfilmtv.com.
Eve Hewson brings ghosts to life in Noah Baumbach`s JAY KELLY.
From her breakout in THIS MUST BE THE PLACE to BAD SISTERS and beyond, she`s now haunting George Clooney as Daphne—a face from the past that forces a movie star to confront who he became while chasing fame.
More Eve at irishfilmtv.com.
When the past catches up with you in Amsterdam 🌊
Ciarán Hinds and Lesley Manville star in MIDWINTER BREAK—a retired couple`s winter getaway becomes a reckoning with memories they`ve tried to outrun for decades, in theatres Feb 20.
New trailer at irishfilmtv.com.
James Nesbitt is back in Harlan Coben`s twisted universe. 🔍
RUN AWAY drops January 1st on #Netflix — and this one`s personal.
When Simon (Nesbitt) finally finds his missing daughter strung out in a city park, it`s supposed to be a second chance. Instead, it`s the beginning of a nightmare.
New trailer at irishfilmtv.com.
Are you loving STEVE on #Netflix?
Legendary war photographer Sir Don McCullin spent days on set capturing behind-the-scenes magic from this raw Netflix drama starring Cillian Murphy about a head teacher fighting to save his reform school while battling his own demons.
More at irishfilmtv.com.
🏆 RIVALS just scooped the International Emmy for Best Drama Series!
The Disney+ hit starring Irish talents Aidan Turner and Victoria Smurfit brought home the gold for this deliciously scandalous 1980s romp through the world of wealthy media types.
More at irishfilmtv.com.
From THE COMMITMENTS to THE TUDORS to KIN, @mariadoylekennedy has built a career that defies categories.
In a brand new interview with The Irish Examiner, Maria opens up about the artists and art that shaped her creative journey—from her Dublin roots to international screens and stages.
Watch now at irishfilmtv.com.
🎭 From Shakespeare to a Beatle: Paul Mescal is doing the impossible!
Oscar-nominated Irish actor Paul Mescal is taking on TWO iconic roles that prove he`s one of the most fearless actors working today.
Watch Paul`s latest interview at irishfilmtv.com.
Kerry Condon`s brief but powerful performance in TRAIN DREAMS is pitch perfect.
She inhabits her character with quiet competence, moving through a male-dominated world with both caution and grace.
Watch now on @netflix!
🎬 HAMNET stars to receive Vanguard Award at the Palm Springs International Film Awards!
A stunning meditation on love`s fragility and art`s power to transform suffering into transcendence. This is Irish talent at its absolute finest on the world stage.
More at irishfilmtv.com.
Netflix just quietly dropped a crime thriller you`ve been sleeping on, and Brendan Gleeson`s performance alone makes it mandatory viewing.
MR MERCEDES, Stephen King`s dark detective series that somehow flew under the radar, is finally streaming – and it`s everything fans of slow-burn psychological thrillers have been craving.
More at irishfilmtv.com.
Andrew Scott is about to steal another movie and we`re absolutely here for it! 🔍
The trailer for WAKE UP DEAD MAN: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY has dropped, and our beloved Irish actor is joining Daniel Craig`s Benoit Blanc for what looks like the most deliciously twisted instalment yet.
Scott plays bestselling author Lee Ross, one of several suspects in a seemingly impossible murder that rocks a small town`s religious community.
More at irishfilmtv.com.
From GLADIATOR II`s arena to the quiet forests of Maine collecting folk songs on wax cylinders—Paul Mescal`s latest role in THE HISTORY OF SOUND might be his most vulnerable yet.
Now on @amazonprime, the film follows Lionel, a shy musician from a Kentucky farm in the 1910s, who meets David White (Josh O`Connor) at the New England Conservatory.
More at irishfilmtv.com.
