Film Ireland writer Matthew Briody talks to writer/director Liam Ó Mocháin, whose new film Abode is currently showing in Irish cinemas. Matthew settled down for a nice chat with Liam to discuss telling multiple stories on screen, working with family and the importance of home.
Writer/director Liam Ó Mocháin has certainly made his mark on the Irish film industry over the last few years. After training in theatre with The Gaiety School of Acting and other renowned theatre groups, Liam wrote, produced and starred in his first short film. Bilingual film, Fortune, screened at the 1997 Dublin International Film Festival and won best short at the 1998 Houston International film festival. Born in Galway and now living in Dublin, his distinct point of view and style comes across in his filmography. In particular, his feature debut The Book That Wrote Itself screened at over twenty international film festivals and won a critics prize at the 1999 Austin Film Festival. As well as his achievements on screen, he is also a founding member of the Irish Film and Television Academy.
Crafting Multiple Narratives
Within the film O Mochain has decided to tell five stories instead of one. When asked if he has a favourite story, Liam replies "I like all of them for different reasons but on an emotional level it’s a tie between the story about Molly who is getting ready to meet a long-lost love, saying any more would give it away and the story about the couple Conor and Maria who are on a weekend away from their children and the normal stresses of life."
"I always planned on being in the film but not necessarily in all five stories," Liam recalls, reflecting on his decision to play a role in each story. "I did want to have actors play different parts across the stories. I wanted to emulate the theatre experience where audiences get to see actors playing multiple roles and buy into it, and I suppose have a bit of a ‘Where’s Wally’ moment."
Downsizing
"I started with ten and ended up with the stories that spoke loudest to me," he confesses. "I was interested first in making a documentary about ‘Home’ but I got drawn back to live action."
Out of all the characters he ended up playing, there was a clear favourite for Liam. "I really enjoyed playing the son of Mary McEvoy in Peggy’s story, the quirky shopkeeper’s story. It’s very hard to talk about these stories and characters without giving too much away!"
Putting the Personal on Paper
Liam was homeless for the first year and a half of his life. This experience had an impact on him when telling these stories. "It’s hard not to be empathetic towards certain characters in the film, especially if it’s something you have personal knowledge of," he admits.
When casting for this project, Liam used a mixture of familiar and unfamiliar faces. "I cast the film from a mixture of actors that I worked with before, across a few of my films and actors that I hadn’t worked with yet, that I felt were right for the different roles."
Creativity During COVID
Liam had a number of challenges to face when shooting the film. However, there was one that came out on top. "Lockdown and COVID was the biggest challenge. When we finally got to make the five vignettes. Then it was the usual issues, time, and money."
There was one particular film about homelessness that Liam was influenced by when making Abode. "I was really moved and influenced by the film Rosie written by Roddy Doyle. As that film was partially based/inspired by real events I completely understand why it was so dark and depressing," he begins. "However, I wanted to give those characters and the family in the Rosie film something to look forward to and some hope at the end of their story. One of the stories in Abode is in a way a spiritual follow on from Roddy Doyles’ film but with more hope, I guess."
Christmas in May
The first story in the film, Benedict and Carol's story, was filmed over a May bank holiday but takes place during Christmas. One of the biggest difficulties shooting a Christmas story in May was sourcing all the decorations. "It was difficult to get the Xmas decorations, I didn’t realise how hard it is to come across them in the summer!" Liam explains. Thankfully, Liam wasn't alone in his search. "Martin Cahill the Production Designer did a great job. He had some decorations himself and begged and borrowed from a lot of the crew and others."
Working from Home
Liam decided to use his own home as a location when filming two of the stories. When filming Peggy and Red's story, he knew that the buck stopped with him. "It’s difficult shooting in anyone’s house but I guess if anything went wrong I had only myself to blame."
When working on Molly's story, Liam used a different part of his house for filming. In terms of space, he had much better luck filming in the sitting room and conservatory "as they were the biggest rooms in the house and not as tight as upstairs, where you couldn’t swing a cat." While shooting in his own home, size mattered. "The small houses in Cabra are not built for a big crew, cast, lights, cameras etc," he acknowledges. "Since filming stopped two years ago, we have since renovated the house and it is a lot bigger and more conducive to filming now."
Image: Still from 'Molly's story’ in 'Abode'
Turning up the Heat
While also telling heartfelt stories in this film, O Mochain was not afraid to throw some humour into the mix too. There is the story of Skyler, a smart oven that is installed in a couple's home. This story is equal parts hilarious and indicative of our over-reliance on technology in the modern world. Liam had some great help in building the oven from a talented member of his crew. “Martin comes from theatre and has a real make do attitude," he remembers. Instead of building something into the wall Martin decided "that he would build a big industrial size oven that could also just slot into a huge cupboard space that already existed in the kitchen of the house we filmed in."
However, even in this high tech story, there was a retro influence for the oven's design. "We went old school with the graphics a bit Knight Rider."
Working for the Weekend
Maria and Conor's story was filmed in a real hotel on the busiest weekend of the year during a June bank holiday. While this was not necessarily the plan, Liam accepts full responsibility. "I completely take the blame for picking the wrong weekend! I guess I must take the blame for everything anyhow." Even though this made filming more difficult, Liam managed to capture the footage he needed whenever he could. "We filmed in sectioned off areas and in places like the bar VERY early in the morning."
Abode is in cinemas 7th November 2025.
