After the bumper year for Irish film and television that was 2022, the bar has well and truly been raised for filmmakers and TV creators.
Here are what we reckon are the best Irish and Irish-made TV and films of the first half of 2023…
Kin
Season 1 of Peter McKenna's crime thriller introduced us to the perilous world of Dublin drug kingpins the Kinsellas, with some excellent storytelling and wonderfully drawn (and occasionally infuriating) characters. Season 2 was even better, bringing insufferable patriarch Bren into the fold after his lengthy prison stint - with chaotic consequences for the family. Simply brilliant television.
Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland
The harrowing story of The Troubles has been told via countless mediums over the decades. This acclaimed docu-series, however, has been rightly hailed as one of the best ever made, offering personal testimonies from those affected on both sides of the conflict, but with a refreshing lack of political point-scoring. A must-watch.
Clean Sweep
There have been some impressively solid homegrown drama series in recent years, and Clean Sweep took its place amid the likes of Love/Hate, Kin and Smother. The six-part thriller starred Charlene McKenna as a suburban mother-of-three with a shadowy past - which she endeavours to keep a secret from her Garda Detective husband.
SisterS
If there’s one thing we Irish excel at, it’s finding humour in the bleakest of situations. This sitcom, an Irish-Canadian co-production helmed by Father Ted/Ted Lasso director Declan Lowney, teeters between tragedy and comedy with hilarious consequences. Co-writers Sarah Goldberg and Susan Stanley play two women who discover they’re half-sisters, and set out on a quest across Ireland to find their real father.
Sunlight
A film about dying shouldn't be so uplifting. Yet that’s precisely what the feature debut by Irish director Claire Dix is, as it tells the story of recovering addict Liam (Barry Ward), who is charged with looking after Iver (Liam Carney), his terminally-ill sponsor. An impressive, perfectly-weighted debut that ticks every box.
406 Days
You’ll no doubt be familiar with the story of the Debenhams workers from the news, but this gripping documentary goes to the coalface of Ireland’s longest-running industrial dispute. In April 2020, the company’s 1000-strong (mostly female) Irish workforce was made redundant with no warning; Joe Lee’s film is a tale of resilience, friendship and determination and one of the most motivating things you’ll watch this year.
Pray for Our Sinners
You’ve probably never heard of Paddy and Mary Randles. Sinead O’Shea’s excellent documentary focuses on the Navan-based GPs and how they helped girls escape Mother & Baby homes in the 1960s and 1970s, but the filmmaker also casts her lens upon the wider issue of the church’s unflinching grasp on Irish society and its ramifications decades on. A deeply moving, often harrowing but ultimately inspiring story.
Lakelands
Filmmaking duo Patrick McGivney and Robert Higgins managed to tap into a story that will be familiar to communities across rural Ireland, yet made it both cinematic and captivating. Cian (an excellent Eanna Hardwicke) is a promising GAA player in a midlands town where football is everything. When he suffers a career-ending injury, he is subsequently forced to find meaning and identity outside of sport, with some brutal life lessons in the mix. A poignant, disarming and beautifully-crafted story.
God’s Creatures
Paul Mescal had quite a hill to climb when it came to following Aftersun. Luckily, he had the wonderful Emily Watson on hand as his co-star in this compelling drama about a mother and son who become entangled in a lie that has far-reaching consequences in their small Irish village. A tense, often bleak story - but one that allows its actors to show their range superbly.
The Deepest Breath
It doesn’t matter whether you’re familiar with the world of free-driving or not; Laura McGann’s documentary weaves a fascinating narrative about champion diver Alessia Zecchini as she trained to break a world record, with the help of her Irish safety expert Stephen Keenan. It makes for an emotional, intense film that you will be holding your breath - pun intended - throughout.
Read our list of the best Irish books for the year (so far) here.
