Premiering at this year’s Dublin International Film Festival, Crazy Love offers a fresh take on mental health in Irish cinema, blending romance with dark humour and candour. Co-directed by Jason Byrne and Kevin Treacy, the film follows Clayton (John Connors), a troubled young man who voluntarily admits himself to a psychiatric facility, where he forms a complex bond with fellow patient Anna (Jade Jordan).
Ahead of its Irish screening, Lauren Gallagher spoke with Connors and Jordan about the film’s origins, its tonal balancing act, the team dynamic and bringing it home to a Dublin audience.
Lauren: John, what was it about the script that first drew you to the project?
John: Basically, I wanted to make a film that was a bit different, that dealt with mental health and also was romantic. Because I wanted to show a vulnerable side as an actor. I asked Dylan Stagno, who was the original writer, who had mental health problems himself, to write this script and to come up with something that we could do on a certain budget. And he wrote the first draft in 12 hours and I loved it. I loved the characters. I loved how he was dealing with the darkness through a sense of humour. It's like shining the light in the darkness, doing it with a light touch.
And as an actor then, I was able to do stuff that I've never really shown anybody else. So that's what drew me to it. And, you know, I've had my own mental health problems. I've been suicidal. My father died by suicide. Mental health is something that I advocate for. So yeah, there's probably nothing more important to me than mental health.
Lauren: And was it difficult balancing the heaviness of the film with the tenderness and lightness of it?
John: It was difficult making the film because of the heaviness of it. Around that time, my mother fell ill and had cancer. So that was very tough. Luckily the film had humour to it. And that actually helped. And we were like that off screen as well. You know, myself and Jade, Graham and Casey, we were all cracking jokes all the time. And I think you've got to do that. You've got to do that to go further into the darkness.
Lauren: I feel like that's quite an Irish thing as well, isn't it? Being able to deal with heavy themes with kind of a humour.
John: That's quintessentially Irish.
Lauren: Do you feel that the film is quintessentially Irish or do you think it has an international appeal as well?
John: It's quintessentially Irish in its humour, for sure. However, it's very different. There’s a quirkiness to it that you don't always see in Irish films. It's daring to be really, really raw, but also really, really funny, you know? And it gets the tone just right. That's so hard, because often times it'll go one direction or another then when you make that attempt. And I think it really does it successfully. At Oldenburg Film Festival, they were laughing, but also you saw them crying. It's like the Brendan Behan trick. Make them laugh and make them cry.
Lauren: It was first screened at Oldenburg, does it feel any different now, screening it back home for the first time?
John: Oh, this is gonna be way different, again, because of the Irish humour. I think the Irish are really gonna get the humour. I'm so looking forward to this because it's an Irish audience and because of the mad characters that we have that are so unique. Like Caspar Walsh and Graham Earley play these really quirky, different characters that are just so left field. I'm looking forward to seeing that reaction from them. And also just DIFF in general. This is my favourite festival. So, it's a great home for it, you know.
Lauren: At Oldenburg you also won the Seymour Cassel Award for Outstanding Performance. How did that feel?
John: It was an honour, unexpected, but hey, listen, I do it for the love of it all. And look, the pat on the back helps. We all like to be loved, you know what I mean?
Lauren: You work both in front of the camera and behind the camera, and for Crazy Love you're producing and you're acting. Do you have to approach that a little bit differently?
John: Well, luckily enough with this, like a lot of my producing was in the development. I found the project. I commissioned the project and did a bit of groundwork early on. And then, at a certain point, I stepped off and had to focus on the character. And then I became useful again in the post-production and the life after.
Lauren: After premiering at Oldenburg and having such a positive reception, how does it feel now showing it back home?
Jade: It's home, it's Dublin, it's amazing. It's great to be back here. Every year for the last couple of years I've had a project. It's a celebration. It's an Irish audience with international people here as well. I mean, it's really, really great to be home and for friends and family to get to see it.
Lauren: And does the film feel quite Irish to you, or do you think it has an international appeal as well?
Jade: A hundred per cent it feels Irish. It's full of Irish humour. International too. I mean, it's about mental health and that's extremely important and I think extremely relevant for the world that we live in now.
Lauren: How did you find approaching the character that is so complex and struggling with their own mental health?
Jade: Well, I approached it with stillness and curiosity. We had an amazing team on this. There was time, which you never really have. And we got to play and we got to explore and let her grow. And sometimes you don't get to do that.
Lauren: And finally, what was it that initially drew you to the project?
Jade: John Connors and Jason Byrne. I worked with them before, very luckily enough on a workshop. And I love John as an actor. He's always a joy to work opposite. And Jason's top notch at his craft.
Lauren: Thank you very much.
Jade: No, thank you!
Crazy Love premiered at Dublin International Film Festival 26th February 2026.
