The Plot: Kathleen (Hazel Doupe) is a troubled young woman whose mother has just died. She’s lived in foster care for many years and is now trying to make her own way in life. A fresh start perhaps, but the past won’t go away. Watched over by social care worker Damian (Aaron Monaghan), she returns to her mother’s house and starts work in the local supermarket. She befriends the friendly neighbour next door, Dee (Clare Dunne) who has a husband (Peter Coonan) and a young son. Kathleen longs for a benevolent maternal influence and eyes an opportunity with Dee…
The Verdict: After working in the film industry for a long period of time, it’s perhaps not too surprising that an actor would want to turn to writing and directing. All that time spent on film sets observing how films get made and the commanding but collaborative role of the director in marshalling the crew together to form a creative vision. Eva Birthistle has been around since the 1990s, working with directors like the now-retired Ken Loach on Ae Fond Kiss and John Crowley on Brooklyn (more of him soon with the buzzy romantic drama We Live In Time). Birthistle’s feature writing and directing debut is Kathleen Is Here, an apparent continuation of a short film called Kathleen Was Here that she made four years ago with actor Hazel Doupe. That was then, this is now and Kathleen is finding her own way in the world.
Birthistle’s starting point on the short film was talking with a group of young adults who were aging out of foster care. She noted that they all had one thing in common – fear and uncertainty about the future, with an inherent desire to be parented despite their now-adult age. From that informed perspective, she’s written an engaging feature-length script that tackles a little-discussed social issue with sensitivity and care. Outwardly, it seems like a straightforward story of a young woman finding somewhere she belongs and possibly someone she belongs with too. Kathleen doesn’t quite know how to deal with the world outside, but tries her best. It’s a coming-of-age story but told from a different, more introspective perspective. What if you never knew your father and barely knew your mother? Wouldn’t you want to find a stable parental influence to reassure you that every little thing is going to be alright, as Bob Marley once sang?
Birthistle’s strength as both a writer and a director here is not laying on the social care issue theme like it’s the most important element of the film. She’s more subtle about it, instead showing how it can affect individual behaviour and the consequences of that behaviour on others who may not understand what exactly makes Kathleen tick. There’s a burning anger in Kathleen, but it could be misinterpreted by other characters. Birthistle does a commendable job of walking that thin line between sympathy and dislike for a character’s actions. This is where the film really comes into its own in the third act, never losing sight of that key relationship between Kathleen and her potential mother figure Dee. Birthistle shows a great command of her actors too, eliciting Doupe’s best performance to date – all soul-searching eyes and deeply buried pain, but with the hope that tomorrow might be a better day.
Kathleen Is Here is a fine feature debut from Birthistle, built on strong characterisation and raw, heartfelt performances that are earned (check out that closing shot). Like another great recent Irish debut, The Sparrow, it tackles domestic issues in a bracing and honest way. Well worth seeking out.
Rating: 4 / 5
Review by Gareth O’Connor
In short: A fine debut
Directed by Eva Birthistle.
Starring Hazel Doupe, Clare Dunne, Peter Coonan, Aaron Monaghan.