This movie from screenwriter Ailbhe Keogan and director Claire Dix is well intentioned – but it’s broad, and for me it does not really do justice to the seriousness of its euthanasia theme. There’s an odd, strained naivety here which goes right up to the silliness (and illegality) of its sentimental climactic scene on a lake.
Barry Ward (from Ken Loach’s Jimmy’s Hall) does his hyperactive utmost with the role of Leon, a recovering smack addict in Dublin and would-be musician who is devoted to his 12-step mentor Iver, a tough-talking old guy who saved him from drugs; this is a fierce performance from veteran player Liam Carney. But Iver is seriously unwell and Leon is astonished one morning when calling round to his flat to find him with a plastic hood over his head and a nurse, Maria (Maureen Beattie), with her fingers on the gas nozzle, apparently doing a dummy run for euthanasia or maybe the actual thing itself.
