Directed by: Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer
Written by: Shane Crowley
Starring: Emily Watson, Paul Mescal, and Aisling Franciosi
Runtime: 94 minutes
‘God’s Creatures’: This secluded noir reveals a bleak side of humanity
Directors Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer filmed “God’s Creatures” in Ireland’s County Donegal, located in the northernmost portion of Ireland and directly west of Northern Ireland.
According to weatherspark.com, “The summers are cool; the winters are long, very cold, and wet; and it is windy and mostly cloudy year round.”
The site added, “The temperature is rarely below 29 degrees F or above 71 degrees F.”
Davis and Holmer capture this weather sentiment for their noir production, a film set in a secluded fishing locale facing the unforgiving North Atlantic Ocean.
The village’s principal employer appears to be a fishery, and many locals – of all sizes and ages – work there, but generally, men catch and gather oysters and fish. Women sort out the deep’s product on assembly lines.
Everyone works earnestly for an honest day’s pay, and trips to pubs or restaurants or quiet moments at home consume the evenings. Keeping your nose clean is best in this close-knit community because gossip could run through the populous faster than a 5:00 pm workday horn.
For the most part, the residents lead decent lives…until they don’t.
“God’s Creatures” is an unsettling drama that deals with a salt-of-the-earth municipality suddenly coping with a stark injustice, an incident that can’t be smoothed over, covered up, or hidden from view, especially within the close quarters of a small fishing village.
Emily Watson is mesmerizing as Aileen O’Hara, a woman at the center or near-center of an unlawful storm. Aileen didn’t cause the aforementioned initial episode, but she states an egregious lie and finds herself tangled in personal and communal crises. One disaster – again, not of her doing - is combustible, but the second causes severe anguish too. The result is a largely-unseen whisper campaign, but one entirely valid.
Watson delivers a pronounced performance that roams with guilt, churn, and shame. For most of the picture, Aileen internalizes these feelings, as the movie audience and townsfolk can read these troubling, roiling emotions all over her face.
The original, infamous, and aforementioned incident will not be revealed in this review, but know that it is explosive, violating, and upsetting.
Writer Shane Crowley’s screenplay – at least the way the film’s final cut is presented - doesn’t feature heaps of discourse, as Davis, Holmer, and cinematographer Chayse Irvin tend to rely on visual storying. However, when Aileen, her husband (Declan Conlon), her son (Paul Mescal), and her co-worker Sarah (Aisling Franciosi) speak, the actors make it count.
Otherwise, the filmmakers offer plenty of screen time on everyday activities of work and leisure that highlight several non-verbal cues but also provide broader settings (in those environments) that play as B-roll. The gloomy weather is ever-present. We witness melancholy, sweeping shots of gray skies meeting buttes, rocks, and hundreds of acres of uninhabited land, which, in turn, merge with the ocean. Occasionally, fishermen trudge out on foot into the icy, shallow waters.
“God’s Creatures” only runs 94 minutes, but with measured pacing and long stretches of bleak atmosphere, this slight runtime fits. It’s just a guess, but Davis and Holmer’s cinematic creation probably would not land as well as a two-hour production. Still, either way, the third act packs a wallop. The community fades, and the film’s ultimate confrontations become intimate and confidential.
In a June 3, 2022 Deadline Hollywood interview, Emily Watson discusses Aileen’s actions and says, “I think there’s a very real world issue around this which is very particular in Ireland.”
No doubt, the events in “God’s Creatures” could occur anywhere, but seek out Emily’s interview after watching the movie to help supplement this sobering cinematic experience.
Jeff’s ranking
3/4 stars
