From podcasts to in-depth discussion and reviews, here's where we take a look at the Irish films released, in cinemas and broadcast, in 2025. Click here to look back on the films of 2024 and here to look at films coming in 2026.
Fidil Ghorm
(DIR: Anne McCabe • WRI: Patricia Forde)
Premiered at Galway Film Fleadh 2024. Aired on TG4 25th December 2025.
Molly is a ten-year-old girl who believes that if she learns to play the fiddle like her dad and wins the All-Ireland Music Championship, her father will wake from his coma.
CAST: Edith Lawlor, Barry McGovern, Siobhán O'Kelly
Eternity
(DIR: David Freyne • WRI: David Freyne, Patrick Cunnane).
In cinemas 12th December 2025
In an afterlife where souls have one week to decide where to spend eternity, Joan is faced with the impossible choice between the man she spent her life with, and her first love, who died young and has waited decades for her to arrive.
Entertaining, enjoyable and, like all good romcoms, inherently rewatchable
Read Khushi Jain's review here.
Horseshoe
(DIR: Edwin Mullane, Adam Adam O’Keeffe • WRI: Adam Adam O’Keeffe).
Premiere at Galway Film Fleadh 12th July. In cinemas 5th December 2025.
On the wind-blasted coast of North Sligo, four estranged siblings return to their ageing childhood home to decide the fate of the family estate. Rammed into the family home for the first time in decades, estranged siblings Jeremiah, Niall, Carrie and Evan return home in the wake of their father’s death. Burdens and grudges, fears and insecurities rise to the surface as the ghost of Colm Canavan continues to taunt them from beyond the grave. As the weekend progresses and failures to agree rack up, they cajole, bicker, reunite and divide as the family’s myriad skeletons come tumbling out of the proverbial closet.
CAST: John Connors, Seán Doyle, Mary Murray, Carolyn Bracken, Neill Fleming, Jed Murray, Eric O’Brien, Lalor Roddy
Balancing oddball charm with psychological insight, Horseshoe stands as a tribute to rural Ireland and a promising introduction to these two emerging voices in Irish cinema.
In this article, Matthew Briody catches up with directing duo Edwin Mullane and Adam O’Keeffe.
Listen to our podcast with Producer Mo O'Connell and Actor Carolyn Bracken.
Beo Faoin bhFód / Buried Alive
(DIR: Daire Collins • WRI: Daire Collins, Sadhbh Devlin, James O'Brien-Moran)
Screening at IFI Documentary Festival. Beo Faoin bhFód airs on TG4 on 26th November 2025.
In 1968, Mick Meaney was buried six feet under the London soil in a simple wooden coffin. Hundreds came to see his burial and toast Mick on his way. The thing was, Mick was not dead. Beo Faoin bhFód is the chronicle of the bizarre tale of Mick Meaney who was buried alive to win the world record for the longest time spent buried alive in 1968. Using never before seen archive, animation and interviews with the people who personally knew Mick, this film charts his record attempt and the depths he and others reached for fame and fortune.
FEATURING: Macdara Ó Fátharta
Tells a story that lingers on long after the credits roll.
Read Ronan Power's review here.
Listen to our podcast with Director Daire Collins here.
All Our Yesterdays
(WRI/DIR: Breege Rowley)
Premiered at iBAM! Festival on 22nd November 2025.
All Our Yesterdays is a documentary exploring 250 years of Irish history through the voices of a town in the west of Ireland. With rare archives, stories, and music, it captures resilience, heritage, and deep ties to the Irish diaspora.
FEATURING: Nora McBurney.
Rowley embeds the story with deep compassion for the people who lived and died during the famine, as well as the countless generations lost to emigration.
Read Brian Ó Tiomáin's review of All Our Yesterdays here.
Testimony
(DIR: Aoife Kelleher • WRI: Aoife Kelleher, Rachel Lysaght)
In cinemas 21st November 2025.
Testimony follows an extraordinary group of women - supported by the activist organisation Justice for Magdalenes - whose fight to hold the Irish government accountable for abuses in the Magdalene Laundries, Mother and Baby Homes, and the forced separation of families, takes them all the way to the United Nations.
CAST: Imelda Staunton, Rod Baker, Frank Brehany
Testimony is in itself a statement of justice.
Anniversary
(DIR: Jan Komasa • WRI: Lori Rosene-Gambino)
Available to stream 21st November 2025.
Filmed in Dublin and co-produced by Metropolitan Pictures, this film tells the story of a close-knit family caught in the turmoil of a controversial rising movement known as "The Change." Ellen and Paul witness their lives fall apart when Ellen's former student Liz reappears and starts dating their son. As Liz becomes a part of the Taylor family, tensions rise and loyalties are tested. Liz's role in "The Change" brings simmering conflicts to the surface, unraveling the fabric of the family just as the nation itself stands on edge during an alarming and challenging time of uncertainty.
CAST: Daryl McCormack, Rebecca O'Meara, Diane Lane, Kyle Chandler
Barber
(DIR: Fintan Connolly • WRI: Fintan Connolly, Fiona Bergin)
In cinemas 14th April 2023. Airing on RTÉ on 15th November 2025.
Val Barber, a private investigator, is hired by a wealthy widow to find her missing granddaughter Sara. As initial investigations into her disappearance begin to darken, secrets surface in unexpected ways. Before too long, Barber finds himself entangled with powerful men of shady morals determined to thwart his investigations. Has he bitten off more than he can chew?
CAST: Aidan Gillen, Aisling Kearns, Gary Lydon, Helen Behan, Deirdre Donnelly, Liam Carney
A fresh take on the classic form...This film deviates from the classic Noir format due to the warmth of the writing and depth of the relationships.
Read Gemma Creagh's review here.
Podcast: Fintan Connolly, Director and Co-Writer of Barber.
Born That Way
(DIR: Éamon Little)
Premiere at DIFF 2025. In cinemas 14th November 2025.
Patrick Lydon is a rare bird. A ‘social artist’, his raw materials are human relations. He is a man of vision, intelligence, principle, discipline, huge energy, passion, courage, humour and, most obvious of all, he’s bursting with love for his fellow man, especially the more vulnerable amongst us.
FEATURING: Patrick Lydon
An inspirational story of humility and love of community
Read Mutale Kampuni's review here.
Róisín Kearney interviews filmmaker Éamon Little here.
Abode
(WRI/DIR: Liam O Mochain)
Premiere at Indie Cork. In cinemas 7th November 2025.
Abode features five stories connected by the theme of home and what it means. Whether the characters are living in mansions, on the street, in a big city, suburbia or in the countryside, home has an importance and a different meaning for each of them.
CAST: Liam O Mochain, Marion O'Dwyer, Anthony Morris
Abode is an often very funny work that effectively mines the familiarity of Irish settings, accents, and situations, resulting in a film best experienced in a sold-out Irish cinema.
Read Matthew Briody's interview with writer and director Liam O Mochain.
Dreamtown
(WRI/DIR: Steven McKenna)
Premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh 2024. Airing on RTÉ on 1st November 2025.
Mickey Richards, a delusional, aging rocker who never realised his dreams, lives a care-free, ‘rock and roll’ life. Spending his nights in bars bragging about his glory days to a group of youths. And then there’s Gina Fox, the young bartender… Mickey’s life has only amounted to a failed marriage and a neglected relationship with his musically talented son, Alan. Mickey decides it’s time he shows Alan what he’s been missing. When Alan is introduced to Gina through a decorating job at her house, it means competition for Gina’s heart. This, and Mickey’s attempts to impress Alan, only creates an even bigger wedge between the two of them. It’s time for Mickey to wake up, and stop living in that Dreamtown.
CAST: Anthony Murphy, Cian Hyland & Michelle Lucy
Dreamtown tells a simple story of a man trying to accept his past while working on getting acceptance from his son, and it tells it extremely well
Read Mick Jordan's review here.
Listen to this podcast with Director Steven McKenna and DOP Jaro Waldeck here.
Bugonia
(DIR: Yorgos Lanthimos • WRI: Jang Joon-hwan, Will Tracy)
In cinemas 31st October 2025.
Two conspiracy-obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.
CAST: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Alicia Silverstone
Brilliantly visualised
Read Shannon Cotter's Roundtable Interview with Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons and Yorgos Lanthimos.
Woken
(DIR/WRI: Alan Friel)
Premiere at DIFF 2024. Airing on RTÉ on 25th October 2025.
Set on a remote island in the North Sea, at the dawn of a new evolutionary phase for humanity, Woken confronts the great existential question on the possibility of man to replace God, after having destroyed nature and consequence himself.
CAST: Maxine Peake, Erin Kellyman, Ivanno Jeremiah, Corrado Invernizzi, Oscar Coleman and Peter McDonald
Lakelands
(WRI/DIR: Robert Higgins, Patrick McGivney)
Originally in cinemas 5th May 2023. Airing on RTÉ on 25th October 2025.
Cian is a young Gaelic footballer struggling to come to terms with a career-ending injury after an attack on a night out. He undertakes a search for his own identity in a small town where Gaelic football is a religion, and identity is defined by what you can do on the pitch.
CAST: Éanna Hardwicke, Danielle Galligan, Lorcan Cranitch
No other film has captured the feeling of small town Irish living quite like Lakelands has.
Read Aoife Fealy's review here.
Podcast: Robert Higgins and Patrick McGivney, Writers & Directors of Lakelands.
Blue Moon
(DIR: Richard Linklater • WRI: Robert Kaplow)
Blue Moon premiere at Berlinale. In cinemas 24th October 2025.
Shot in Dublin, this biopic of Lorenz Hart tells the story of his struggles with alcoholism and mental health as he tries to save face during the opening of "Oklahoma!"
CAST: Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale and Andrew Scott.
Blue Moon is a dialogue-driven biopic that explores the emotional turmoil of a man valued for his work — but not his company.
Gerry Adams - A Ballymurphy Man
(WRI/DIR: Trisha Ziff)
Premiere at Galway Film Fleadh 12th July 2025. In cinemas 17th October 2025.
Gerry Adams is one of the most controversial leaders of our time, he led his community in the North of Ireland from conflict to peace. Adams was a critical voice in the decision taken by the IRA to lay down their arms after their 25-year war against the British. Imprisoned and shot, he was demonised and censored by dominant media as a subversive and terrorist, yet the British and their allies were forced to recognise his legitimacy and negotiate with him and Sinn Féin, the Irish peace accord, ‘The Good Friday Agreement’.
FEATURING: Gerry Adams
A Want In Her
(DIR: Myrid Carten • WRI: David Barker, Myrid Carten)
In cinemas 10th October 2025.
FEATURING: Myrid Carten, Nuala Carten
Listen to our podcast with Myrid Carten here.
The Hook
(WRI/DIR: Thomas Beatty)
Premiere at Bournemouth Film Festival which ran 9th - 10th October 2025.
24 hours to save Rock n Roll and their family.
CAST: Lucas Aurelio, Mei Bignall, Harvey Dean
Read Matthew Briody's interview with writer and director Thomas Beatty here.
Re-creation
(WRI/DIR: Jim Sheridan, David Merriman).
Premiere at Galway Film Fleadh. In Cinemas 3rd October 2025.
In a fictitious trial, twelve members of a jury must decide whether British journalist Ian Bailey is guilty of the murder of French filmmaker Sophie Toscan Du Plantier in 1996. Based on real events, the film reconstructs the deliberations of the twelve jury members and presents a case that ultimately invites the viewer to draw their own conclusions.
CAST: Colm Meaney, Vicky Krieps, Jim Sheridan, Aidan Gillen, John Connors, Tristan Heanue, Claire Johnson, Gilbert Johnson, Maja Juric, Elena Spautz, Zahara Moufid, Brian O’Doherty, Helen Norton, Brendan Conroy
The film excavates the psychological terrain where guilt and innocence are determined
Sunphlowers
(WRI/DIR: Dave Byrne)
Premiere at Galway Film Fleadh 10th July 2025. In cinemas 26th September.
When Catherine’s husband dies unexpectedly, a toxic legacy of ruin and deceit emerges. Catherine quickly realises that she must confront the realities of her new life which may even include financial destitution. Initially she struggles to deal with the overwhelming responsibilities ahead of her while also providing emotional support to her three adult children. However pride and determination brings out a strength of character beyond Catherine’s own expectations. As she deals with each problem head on, she discovers a newfound sense of freedom along with the power to forgive and move on.
CAST: Anne McCrudden, Patrick Bergin, Abigail O'Regan
Sunphlowers is not a preachy affair, rather it delivers a strong message about living your best life
Read Peter Bodie's review here.
Listen to our podcast with Writer/Director Dave Byrne.
Girls & Boys
(WRI/DIR: Donncha Gilmore)
Premiere at Galway Film Fleadh 12th July 2025. In cinemas 19th September 2025.
On Halloween night in Dublin, rugby player Jace meets aspiring filmmaker Charlie at a college party.
CAST: Liath Hannon, Adam Lunnon-Collery, Francis O'Mahony
With a pitch-perfect central pairing, sharp dialogue, beautiful visuals and essential subject matter, Girls & Boys is simply a cinematic must-see.
Read Matthew Briody's review here.
Listen to our podcast with Donncha.
Read Matthew's interview with Liath Hannon.
The Swallow
(WRI/DIR: Tadhg O’Sullivan)
Premiere at DIFF 2024. In Cinemas 19th September 2025.
In a small house by the sea, a woman begins a letter to an unknown correspondent. Surrounded by the books, mementoes and clutter of a life lived in one place, her home exposed to the waves of a rising ocean, she writes about the history of lost art. Considering what has been lost, and wondering about her own desire to hold on, she sets out on a meditation on memory, and art’s aspiration to immortality.
CAST: Brenda Fricker
At the centre of the narrative is the longing for someone lost...
Steve
(DIR: Tim Mielants • WRI: Max Porter)
In cinemas 19th September 2025.
Follows headteacher Steve battling for his reform college's survival while managing his mental health. Concurrently, troubled student Shy navigates his violent tendencies and fragility, torn between his past and future prospects.
CAST: Cillian Murphy, Tracey Ullman, Jay Lycurgo
Steve is a worthy film. Anchored by a dependably compelling Cillian Murphy and supported by a committed cast, it delivers some of the year’s most artful moments of cinema.
The Occupant
(DIR: Hugo Keijzer • WRI: Philip Michael Howe, Hugo Keijzer, Roelof Jan Minneboo, Xiao Tang)
Available to stream online 1st September 2025.
Desperate to fund an experimental treatment for her sister Beth’s terminal cancer, Abby takes a high-risk but well-paid job at a uranium mine in Northern Georgia. Her attempt to return home after discovering a mysterious, potentially valuable mineral element is halted after her helicopter crashes in the remote mountains. Stranded, she finds hope through John, an American pilot radioing from nearby. As their connection deepens, Abby uncovers a disturbing truth about John, forcing her to make an impossible choice. The film was part supported by Northern Ireland Screen, features Belfast actors Sheena Kelly, Stuart Graham and Vanessa Ifediora, and shooting took place in Georgia and Northern Ireland.
CAST: Ella Balinska, Stuart Graham, Sheena Kelly
Sanatorium
(DIR: Gar O’Rourke)
Premiere at CPH:DOX. Screening at Galway Film Fleadh 11th July 2025. In cinemas 5th September.
People of all ages come in their thousands each summer for the Soviet-style therapeutic and wellness treatments on offer. The biggest attraction here is the mysterious mud - which is strongly believed to cure infertility, chronic ailments, and a myriad of other health problems. Following the stories of guests and staff over a summer season like no other, the film goes beyond the sanatorium’s pink and lime green corridors, to follow an assorted group of strangers, each seeking respite from their daily realities and in search of a better life for themselves.
Cinematic, warm... with a surprising helping of humour.
Listen to our podcast with Director Gar O’Rourke.
Christy
(DIR: Brendan Canty • WRI: Alan O'Gorman)
Premiere at Galway Film Fleadh 2025. In cinemas 29th August 2025.
Seventeen-year-old Christy is at a crossroads. Thrown out of his suburban foster home, he has moved in temporarily with his estranged older brother, Shane, in Cork’s inner city. But Shane wants something better for Christy. After so many years apart, the brothers are forced to reconcile their turbulent past, whilst deciding what the future looks like. Sometimes, to move forward, you have to go back.
CAST: Danny Power, Diarmuid Noyes, Emma Willis
A beautifully observed slice of life.
Read our review from Niall McCloskey.
Listen to our podcast with Writer Alan O'Gorman.
Four Letters of Love
(DIR: Polly Steele • WRI: Niall Williams)
In cinemas 18th July 2025.
Nicholas and Isabel are made for each other, but fate does not always choose the easiest path to true love. As destiny pulls them together, family, passion and faith drive them apart.
Based on Niall Williams' own best-selling novel.
CAST: Pierce Brosnan, Helena Bonham Carter, Gabriel Byrne, Fionn O’Shea, Ann Skelly
Mrs Robinson
(DIR: Aoife Kelleher)
Broadcast on RTÉ on 23rd July 2025.
Mrs Robinson tells Mary’s story, in her own words, for the very first time – illuminating battles for justice and equality over half a century; on the streets, in the courts, at the ballot box, and in backroom corridors of power.
As charismatic and inspirational as its subject, Mrs. Robinson will make you proud to be Irish.
Read Carmen Bryce's review here.
Read Mick Jordan’s article ”Mrs Robinson And Me.”
Listen to our podcast with Director Aoife Kelleher.
Burkitt
(DIR: Éanna Mac Cana)
Available to stream online 25th July 2025.
A documentary exploring the life of Irish surgeon Denis Burkitt, who discovered Burkitt's lymphoma, as told by a survivor of this cancer.
In his ambitious film, Éanna Mac Cana traces his own uncomfortable relationship with the eponymous Denis Burkitt
HOME: The Story of Zak Moradi
(WRI/DIR: Trevor Whelan)
Broadcast on RTÉ 16th July 2025.
HOME: The Story of Zak Moradi follows the inspiring journey from Zak’s childhood in a Kurdish refugee camp to his significant role in the Irish community. This film highlights his integration into Irish society, illustrating how Kurdish and Irish cultures merged in his life. It showcases his contributions as a hurling player for Leitrim, and his efforts against racism, through work with organisations like SARI and the One Foundation.
FEATURING: Zak Moradi, Mokthar Moradi, Halala Moradi, Dilman Ahmedi, Peter Power, Rahman Qadri, Akbar Qadri, Ahuoo Qadri, Akram Mohammed Mahmoud, Omid Hama Ali Rashid, Gohar Moradi, Safar Moradi
In a world that is becoming more and more insular, this documentary proclaims the power of a hundred thousand welcomes.
Read the review by Ciara Nora Creedon here.
Listen to our Fleadh Focus podcast which features Director Trevor Whelan.
Listen to the Land Speak
(DIR: Maurice O’Brien)
Premiere at Galway Film Fleadh 12th July 2025.
Listen to the Land Speak sees Manchán Magan reveal the profound knowledge and wisdom contained in our landscape and myths. The film unfolds from Winter Solstice to Bealtaine through Reek Sunday to Samhain, exploring how the stories and myths associated with the rivers, mountains and lands around us are crucial to unlocking aspects of how we need to rebuild our relationship with nature today. But it also becomes an unexpectedly personal story as Manchán realises that there is a serious illness within himself that makes him see these ancient sites and beliefs in a whole new light .
FEATURING: Manchán Magan
TRAD
(WRI/DIR: Lance Daly)
Premiere at Galway Film Fleadh 11th July 2025.
From their home in the Donegal Gaeltacht, gifted young fiddle player Shóna McAnally and her little brother Mickey take to the road with a bohemian troupe of wandering minstrels, on a cross-country journey of music, laughter and romance, opening their eyes to their own unique heritage and rediscovering the value of music that has been passed down through their family for generations
CAST: Megan Nic Fhionnghaile, Aidan Gillen, Sarah Greene
Solitary
(WRI/DIR: Eamonn Murphy)
Premiere at Galway Film Fleadh 11th July 2025.
In rural Ireland, Brendan, a widowed farmer, lives a quiet life on the edge of a village. When his home is broken into, a growing sense of fear and isolation takes hold.
CAST: Gerry Herbert, Cailum Carragher, Cate Russell
Does wonders with its simple premise...Solitary is a timely tribute to endurance.
Read Shannon Goodfellow's review.
Read Will Penn's interview with Eamonn Murphy and Alan Breslin here.
In Time: Dónal Lunny
(DIR: Nuala O’Connor)
Premiere Galway Film Festival 11th July 2025.
This film is the first film account of the life and work of Dónal Lunny, one of Ireland’s outstanding artists and is an appraisal of the creative process of this unique artist whose influence and impact on Irish traditional music has been enduring and far reaching.
The Breaking Wave - The Buddhists of Beara
(DIR: Maurice O’Brien)
Broadcast on RTÉ on 10th July 2025.
Dzogchen Beara is Ireland’s best-known spiritual retreat centre, built on a remote clifftop. Initially established in 1974 as a retreat by hippies Peter & Harriet Cornish, this West Cork refuge would go on to become a respected centre of Tibetan Buddhist practice in the West. But for its Buddhist community, drawn from all over the world, it quickly becomes clear that the road to enlightenment contains many challenges. When allegations against their revered spiritual teacher force the formerly peaceful haven into an existential crisis, the community must pull together or fall apart. The Breaking Wave - The Buddhists of Beara powerfully dissects this complicated history with dignity and sensitivity, providing a powerful and meditative account of Dzogchen Beara and its legacy.
An ambitious and immediately likeable documentary that finds strength through the contradictions it presents
Listen to the DocArena Podcast.
I Hope We Can Still Be Friends
(DIR: Aisha Tyler • WRI: Emmett Hughes, Aisha Tyler)
Premiere at Galway Film Fleadh 10th July 2025.
Two strangers awake to discover they have been imprisoned in a box against their will. To win their freedom, they must rely on each other to put the pieces together. But as time goes on, neither is as they seem: are they friend, foe... or something else entirely?
CAST: Caroline Morahan, Emmett Hughes
Listen to our podcast with Director / Co-writer Aisha Tyler.
The Morrigan
(WRI/DIR: Colum Eastwood)
Premiere at Galway Film Fleadh 10th July 2025.
This film follows an archaeologist who travels to Ireland to uncover a long-dead tomb. A threat is released and she will have to fight to keep her teenage daughter from falling under the control of The Morrigan, a vengeful "Pagan War Goddess."
CAST: Toby Stephens, James Cosmo, Saffron Burrows
Báite
(DIR: Ruán Magan • WRI: Sheena Lambert)
Premiere at Galway Film Fleadh 9th July 2025. Coming soon to TG4.
A woman's body is found under the waters of a lake in the countryside, and the arrival of a Detective from Dublin is the last thing Peggy, the owner of Casey's Pub, needs as she tries to save her business and her family.
CAST: Moe Dunford, Denis Conway, Tara Breathnach
Love Lane United
(DIR: Jack Thornton • WRI: Cahal McQuillan, Jack Thornton)
Premiere at Galway Film Fleadh 9th July 2025.
CAST: Seán Óg Cairns, Gordon Quigley, Daiana Madeira.
Interview with Jack Thornton, Director & Co-Writer of Love Lane United here.
Don’t Forget To Remember
(DIR: Ross Killeen)
Broadcast on RTÉ 9th July 2025.
There is an inherent understanding of the grieving process when a loved one is lost. But what if that person isn’t gone? What does grief mean then? In collaboration with the artist Asbestos, Killeen’s unconventional documentary explores the lived experience of Alzheimer’s whilst also honouring the ties of family. Considering the simultaneous fragility and fortitude of memory, it concludes that we can never truly lose our loved ones as long as we remember them.
Don’t Forget to Remember – A Celebration of Life, Love and Creativity: read the print Interview here.
Listen to our Podcast with Artist Asbestos and Ross Killeen here.
Beat the Lotto
(DIR: Ross Whitaker)
Premiere at DIFF on 26th February 2025. In cinemas 4th July 2025. Available to stream on Netflix now.
Almost everyone has played the Lottery and everyone would like to win it. When the National Lottery was launched in Ireland in 1986, a type of mania ensued with the public taking the game to their hearts. In a depressed and dysfunctional era, the technologically advanced National Lottery was one of the country's few trusted institutions, running like clockwork and dispersing funds to good causes. Whitaker's documentary tells the story of Stefan, the man who tried to beat the Lotto system by attempting to fix the draw, an act that divided the nation.
Utterly riveting from the first Lotto ticket to the final Lotto ball
Read Dale Kearney's review here.
Listen to our podcast with Ross Whitaker here.
The Phone Box Babies
(DIR: Máire Kearney)
Broadcast on RTÉ 2nd July 2025
Three newborn children are abandoned in different parts of Ireland during the 1960s. Half a century later, these strangers discover their connection to each other and search for their identities.
FEATURING: Toby David McBride, Helen Ward, John Dowling
A tender and essential piece of filmmaking.
Read Adam Matthews' review here.
Sharp Corner
(DIR: Jason Buxton • WRI: Jason Buxton, Russell Wangersky)
Premiere at DIFF. Available to stream online 28th June 2025.
A dedicated family man becomes obsessed with saving the lives of the car accident victims on the sharp corner in front of his house - an obsession that could cost him everything.
CAST: Cobie Smulders, Ben Foster, Gavin Drea
Amanda
(DIR: José Miguel Jiménez)
Premiere at Docs Ireland on 27th June 2025.
Amanda has painted in isolation for years, using art as both expression and refuge. Now, she must face the challenge of speaking out about a painful past she wishes to leave behind. Once institutionalised and labeled by others, Amanda reclaims her narrative through her unique canvases - works that evoke the chaos of her experience, paintings marked by scars that mirror her own.
FEATURING: Amanda Cullen
Jiménez’s moving documentary crafts an introspective celebration of an artist on her own terms.
Read Shannon Goodfellow's review here.
Listen to our podcast with José Miguel Jiménez here.
Latina, Latina
(DIR: Adrian Duncan)
Screened at Docs Ireland on 26th June 2025.
Latina, Latina is a hybrid-documentary shot in Italy that explores political ideology through the objects and buildings left behind. Funded by the Arts Council's Reel Art Award.
CAST: Sabrina Mandanici, Wednesday Erskin
A travelogue of memory that feels, at points, all too real. But all empires fall eventually.
Operation Boogeyman
(DIR: Simon Aeppli)
Screened at Docs Ireland on 24th June 2025.
Operation Bogeyman: The Folk Horror Landscape of 1970s Northern Ireland is an essay film that navigates the intersections of folklore, horror, and psychological warfare during the Troubles.
Operation Boogeyman is less of a ghost hunt than an exorcism of moss-ridden landscapes and half-forgotten tales.
How to Train your Dragon
(WRI/DIR: Dean DeBlois)
In cinemas 15th June 2025.
Filmed on location in Northern Ireland and in Titanic Studios and Belfast Harbour Studios, and funded by Northern Ireland Screen, How to Train your Dragon is a live-action remake of DreamWorks Animation's 2010 animated film that stars Irish actor Ruth Codd. As an ancient threat endangers both Vikings and dragons alike on the isle of Berk, the friendship between Hiccup, an inventive Viking, and Toothless, a Night Fury dragon, becomes the key to both species forging a new future together.
CAST: Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Gerard Butler
Housewife of the Year
(DIR: Ciaran Cassidy)
Broadcast on RTÉ 2nd June 2025.
Former contestants of the Housewife of the Year competition tell the story of a resilient generation of women, and how they changed a country. Winner of Best Irish Feature Documentary at the Galway Film Fleadh 2024.
FEATURING: Margaret Carmody, Catherine Carton, Margaret Carton
Director Ciaran Cassidy peels back the polished veneer to reveal a more unsettling story
In the Opinion of the Censor
(DIR: Andrew Gallimore, Lydia Monin • WRI: Andrew Gallimore, John Kelleher)
Premiere 30th May at the Irish Film Institute. Available to stream online now.
Former Censor John Kelleher reveals how the decisions of the Irish Film Censor have mirrored the political, social and cultural evolution of Ireland itself.
FEATURING: Professor Kevin Rockett, Sheamus Smith, John Kelleher
An entertaining, engaging account of the movement from censorship to classification.
Read Dr Seán Patrick Donlan's essay here.
The Flats
(WRI/DIR: Alessandra Celesia)
In cinemas 23rd May 2025.
Joe and his Belfast neighbours reenact childhood memories from the violent Troubles era in their Catholic district, exploring the collective experiences that shaped their lives and community.
CAST: Jolene Burns, Joe McNally, Sean Parker
Listen to our podcast with Alessandra Celesia here.
Hallow Road
(DIR: Babak Anvari • WRI: William Gillies)
In cinemas on 16th May 2025.
Screen Ireland-supported project Hallow Road features Irish actor Megan McDonnell alongside Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys. Two parents receive a distressing late-night call from their teenage daughter, who has just accidentally hit a pedestrian. They jump in their car, racing to get there before anyone else stumbles across the scene. As they head deeper into the night, disturbing revelations threaten to tear the family apart as they soon realize they might not be the only ones driving down Hallow Road. The film is a Czech / Ireland / UK co-production, produced by Richard Bolger for Hail Mary Pictures,
CAST: Megan McDonnell, Rosamund Pike, Matthew Rhys.
The Surfer
(DIR: Lorcan Finnegan • WRI: Thomas Martin)
In cinemas 9th May 2025.
When a man returns to his beachside hometown in Australia, many years since building a life for himself in the U.S., he is humiliated in front of his teenage son by a local gang of surfers who claim strict ownership over the secluded beach of his childhood. Wounded, he decides to remain at the beach, declaring war against those in control of the bay. But as the conflict escalates, the stakes spin wildly out of control, taking him to the edge of his sanity.
CAST: Nicolas Cage, Julian McMahon, Nicholas Cassim
A delightfully unhinged odyssey
Listen to our podcast with Lorcan Finnegan and Thomas Martin here.
Dreaming is Not Sleeping
(WRI/DIR: Rouzbeh Rashidi)
Irish premiere Lighthouse Cinema on 3rd May 2025.
Set against desolate backdrops and narrated by a spectral voice, Dreaming Is Not Sleeping contemplates themes of memory, existence, and temporality. Utilizing an immersive, dreamlike aesthetic, the film dissolves boundaries between past and present while exploring clairvoyance, impermanence, and humanity’s collective struggles. Its concluding sequence invites viewers to reflect on consciousness, meaning, and the ephemeral traces we imprint upon the cosmos.
CAST: Anton Gartung, Elika Ostrov
Rashidi shows the power of language and the natural world
Read Matthew Briody's review here.
Read our interview with Rouzbeh Rashidi here.
The Graceless Age: The Ballad of John Murry
(DIR: Sarah Share • WRI: David Morton)
In cinemas 2nd May 2025.
This is the story of American singer songwriter John Murry who was on the cusp of greatness after the release of his highly acclaimed album, Graceless Age (2013), when his world fell apart. Creatively exhausted and struggling with addiction he washed up on the shores of Ireland a broken man. Now, he retraces his steps back to Mississippi into the dark heart of American life, where he faces his demons – a neglected childhood, traumatic assault and resulting years of opioid addiction.
CAST: John Murry
The Graceless Age presents a compelling portrait of an artist whose sensitivity acts as both burden and gift.
Amongst the Wolves
(DIR: Mark O'Connor • WRI: Luke McQuillan, Mark O'Connor)
In cinemas 2nd May 2025.
Danny, an ex-soldier homeless in Dublin, meets Will, a teen fleeing a drug gang. Their encounter forces them to confront their pasts while navigating the harsh realities they face.
CAST: Luke McQuillan, Daniel Fee, Aidan Gillen, Jade Jordan, Helen Behan, Louise Bourke, Sello, Dane Whyte O’Hara, Casey Walsh, Paul Ritchie
Amongst the Wolves crafts an unromantic narrative centred around the visceral and callous reality of Dublin City, touching on themes of homelessness, immigration, and the scars left by trauma.
Read the review by Adam Matthews here.
Gemma Creagh talks to Director & Co-Writer Mark O’Connor and Co-Writer & Actor Luke McQuillan.
Fréwaka
(WRI/DIR: Aislinn Clarke)
In cinemas 25th April 2025.
A home care worker, Shoo, who, haunted by a personal tragedy, is sent to a remote village to care for an agoraphobic woman who fears the neighbours as much as she fears the Na Sídhe – sinister sprites who she believes abducted her decades before. As the two develop a strangely deep connection, Shoo is consumed by the old woman's paranoia, rituals, and superstitions, eventually confronting the horrors from her own past.
CAST: Clare Monnelly, Bríd Ní Neachtain, Aleksandra Bystrzhitskaya
It is absorbing and compelling — the cinematic equivalent of a page-turner.
Mick Jordan braves the darkness with his review of Fréwaka.
Verdigris
(DIR/WRI: Patricia Kelly)
In cinemas 18th April 2025.
A reluctant retiree struggles in a controlling marriage, until an unlikely friendship with an abandoned teen sex worker teaches her to live life on her own terms, no matter the cost.
CAST: Geraldine McAlinden, Maya O’Shea, Michael James Ford
Exploring issues of gender, Verdigris looks at sexuality, sensuality and the unhealthy dynamics that can be forged in certain spaces.
Read Gemma Creagh's review of Verdigris.
Listen here to the podcast with Writer/Director Patricia Kelly.
Sins of Ireland
(DIR: Alex Fegan • WRI: Kelda Crawford-McCann, Alex Fegan)
In cinemas 18th April 2025.
Through the prism of the confession box, which has its origins in Ireland, 'Sins of Ireland' is a portrait of an overlooked aspect of Ireland's past and how it impacted many parts of the world. Fifteen Irish priests, known for hearing the confessions of others, outline what the sacrament of confession was supposed to be and, while confessing the sins of the church, what it became.
A quietly powerful perspective on faith, power and personal reckoning.
Sean Dooley takes to the pulpit in his review of Sins of Ireland.
Fran The Man
(DIR: Stephen Bradley • WRI: Richie Conroy)
In cinemas 11th April 2025.
Competing in the FAI Cup for the first time should have been amateur Irish football club St Peter’s United’s finest hour, but when blundering assistant manager Fran Costello learns that some of his players have taken a bribe to fix the match, he realises it’s time to unleash his inner detective to expose the fraudsters! Fran’s life is further complicated by a slow-burning infatuation with Jackie Charlton – the mother of one of his young players. For someone who has used football to shy away from life, Fran is being catapulted headfirst into all it has to offer.
CAST: Darragh Humphreys, Ardal O'Hanlon, Amy Huberman, Risteard Cooper, Toni O'Rourke, Deirdre O'Kane, Eddie Marsan
Listen to our podcast with Stephen Bradley here.
Drop
(DIR: Christopher Landon • WRI: Jillian Jacobs, Chris Roach)
In cinemas 11th April 2025.
A widowed mother's first date in years takes a terrifying turn when she's bombarded with anonymous threatening messages on her phone during their upscale dinner, leaving her questioning if her charming date is behind the harassment. Filmed in Dublin, Blumhouse thriller Drop features a strong Irish crew including Irish production designer Susie Cullen, known for her work on Abigail and Sexy Beast, who created the film's central location at Ardmore Studios in Co Wicklow. And Aoife Bailey was a stunt performer who doubled for lead actress Meghann Fahy. Canadian actor Travis Nelson is also based and working in Ireland.
CAST: Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Violett Beane, Travis Nelson
Listen to our podcast with Actor Travis Nelson here.
Four Mothers
(DIR: Darren Thornton • WRI: Colin Thornton, Darren Thornton)
In cinemas 4th April 2025.
A struggling novelist who is forced to take care of three eccentric older women – and his own mother – over the course of one chaotic weekend in Dublin.
CAST: Fionnula Flanagan, James McArdle, Niamh Cusack, Adam Fergus
In all the complex themes that it dealt with (aging parents, loneliness, homosexuality), Four Mothers never lost its sensitivity.
Read Khushi Jain's full review here.
Listen to our podcast with Darren Thornton here.
An Taibhse
(WRI/DIR: John Farrelly)
In cinemas 28th March 2025.
An Taibhse unfolds in the bleak landscape of post-famine Ireland. The narrative centres around Éamon and his daughter, Máire, who undertake the care of a remote Georgian Mansion through the harsh winter.
CAST: Tom Stafford, Livvy Hill, Anthony Murphy, Tom Kerrisk
Using lanterns, and a fireplace, Farrelly and cinematographer Ross Power utilise natural and atmospheric lighting to great effect. This fuels suspense, creating a halo of light and warmth around Máire as she wanders the hallways.
Read Aoife Fealy's review here.
Listen back to our podcast with John Farrelly here.
The End
(DIR: Joshua Oppenheimer • WRI: Rasmus Heisterberg, Joshua Oppenheimer)
In cinemas 28th March 2025.
A wealthy family lives in an underground bunker two decades after the end of the world, which they directly contributed to. Co-produced by Wild Atlantic Pictures and supported by Screen Ireland
CAST: Tilda Swinton, George MacKay, Moses Ingram, Michael Shannon, Bronagh Gallagher, Tim McInnerny, Lennie James.
The film sets the stage for a meditation on the destructive power of isolation and the gradual shift from coldness to warmth – a transition that feels both hopeful and tinged with melancholy.
Read Adam Matthews' review here.
The People Before
(DIR: Steve Reeves • WRI: Mike Oughton)
Premiere at Galway Film Fleadh 2024. Available to stream/rent online 14th March 2025.
Jess and her husband, desperate for a fresh start, jump at the chance to buy a charming old house in the idyllic Suffolk countryside. But, the warm welcome they expect never comes. The tight-lipped locals harbour a dark secret about Maple House, and Jess soon realises their dream home might be a grave mistake. Whispers of a chilling past and unsettling events begin to unravel, revealing a haunting truth about the house’s history. As the menacing shadows of Maple House close in, Jess must confront the sinister situation before it’s too late. Will the family survive the nightmare they’ve unknowingly moved in to?
CAST: Imelda May, Liz White, Ray Fearon, John Thomson, Frances Barber, Jake Siame, Craig Russell, Mika Simmons, Mark Stobbart, Richard Durden
Ready or Not
(DIR: Claire Frances Byrne • WRI: Lynn Ruane).
Premiere at DIFF 22nd February 2025.
A coming-of-age story with a twist, revealing the greyness we create to make sense of the world. Katie is the only child of two loving parents. Katie is cheeky, funny, and wants to be one of the boys. Her housing estate is small and is filled with young families who make up the maisonettes, flats, and houses. The transition to teenage life brings Katie and her friends to places they did not expect when they push the boundaries of their circle and try on a maturity they are not yet ready for.
CAST: Ruby Conway Dunne, Molly Byrne, Alex Grendon, Alicia Weaver
Listen to our podcast with Director Claire Frances Byrne and Producer Ruth Coady.
Never Stop the Action
(WRI/DIR: Paul Rowley)
Premiere at DIFF in the Lighthouse cinema 2025.
A supernova in a single New York City subway carriage, this is a kaleidoscopic and often hilarious journey through time and space. It begins in The Bronx, catching a 5am D train with Teshi and Casey, two friends recently reunited at an all-night dance party. On their long subway ride through the awakening metropolis, these two merry pilgrims share stories, fragments, moments out of time: going from the mountains of Spain to Japan to AI generated universes. Rowley borrows big cosmic ideas and New Wave cinema aesthetics to create a truly hybrid film, which is equal parts travelogue and science fiction.
CAST: Ricki Lynée, Stephen Quinn, Ozzie Stewart
Delving into the same kind of psychological and philosophical questions, Rowley reflects on shared experiences of human consciousness.
Matthew Briody reviews Never Stop the Action.
Aontas
(DIR: Damian McCann • WRI: Damian McCann, Sarah Gordon)
Irish Premiere at DIFF on 22nd February 2025.
Three unlikely women rob a rural Irish Credit Union. A backwards chronology unravels what went wrong.
CAST: Carrie Crowley, Brid Brennan and Eva-Jane Gaffney
Listen to our interview with Damian McCann at Dinard British and Irish Film Festival here.
September Says
(WRI/DIR: Ariane Labed)
In cinemas 19th February 2025.
This is a co-production involving Sackville Film & TV Productions and Element Pictures. Sisters July and September are thick as thieves, though very different - September is protective and distrustful of others, while July is open to and curious about the world. Their dynamic is a concern to their single mum, Sheela, who is unsure what to do with them. When September is suspended from their school, July is left to fend for herself and begins to assert her own independence - which does not go unnoticed by September. Tension among the three women builds when they take refuge in an old holiday home in Ireland, where July finds her bond with September shifting in ways she cannot entirely understand or control - and a series of surreal encounters test the family to their limit.
CAST: Mia Tharia, Rakhee Thakrar, Pascale Kann
September Says is an arresting, witchy debut from Ariane Labed
Listen to our podcast with Producer Chelsea Morgan Hoffmann.
Spilt Milk
(DIR: Brian Durnin • WRI: Cara Loftus)
Irish Premiere at DIFF February 2025.
Set in Dublin in 1984, Spilt Milk follows an 11 year-old boy, who dreams of becoming a great detective like his TV hero Kojak.
CAST: Alisha Weir, Danielle Galligan, Laurence O'Fuarain
Article: From Dublin Dreams to French Screens - Spilt Milk Screening at Dinard
Bring Them Down
(DIR/WRI: Christopher Andrews)
In cinemas 7th February 2025.
Set in the wild landscape of the West of Ireland, the film follows an Irish shepherd who is drawn into violent conflict with a neighbouring farm when his sheep are massacred by unknown men.
CAST: Barry Keoghan, Christopher Abbott
With impressive lead performances and a strong supporting cast, Bring Them Down is a taut thriller that shows the dangers of a wolf in sheep’s clothing
Blue Road - The Edna O'Brien Story
(WRI/DIR: Sinéad O'Shea)
In cinemas 31st January 2025.
A 93-year-old Irish writer Edna O'Brien recounts her controversial life, novels, love affairs, and stardom through personal journals read by actress Jessie Buckley, with perspectives from writers like Gabriel Byrne and Walter Mosley.
CAST: Jessie Buckley, Declan Conlon, Gabriel Byrne
This film explores a life fully lived, but is also a snapshot of the oppression women faced in Ireland, an oppression which controlled so many aspects of their existence for decades
Listen to our podcast with Sinéad O'Shea.
aWake
(WRI/DIR: Mark McAuley)
Available to stream from 21st January 2025.
The debut feature film of Irish filmmaker Mark McAuley, follows four characters over the course of an evening following the funeral of one of their old friends. The film takes place in one location - the house of the deceased man.
CAST: Lacy Moore, Kojii DeBurca, Sadhbh Larkin Coyle, Mark McAuley
Director, producer and writer Mark McAuley’s ambition shines throughout the whole project.
Read our interview with Mark McAuley here.
The Damned
(WRI: Jamie Hannigan, Thordur Palsson • DIR: Thordur Palsson)
In cinemas 10th January 2025.
A 19th-century widow has to make an impossible choice when, during an especially cruel winter, a foreign ship sinks off the coast of her Icelandic fishing village.
CAST: Odessa Young, Joe Cole, Lewis Gribben
The Damned is a triumph of mood and atmosphere, immersing viewers in a world where every breath feels cold, every shadow harbours secrets, and every decision is weighted with endurance.
Adam Matthews reviews The Damned.
We Live in Time
(DIR: John Crowley • WRI: Nick Payne)
In cinemas 1st January 2025.
An up-and-coming chef and a recent divorcée find their lives forever changed when a chance encounter brings them together, in a decade-spanning, deeply moving romance.
CAST: Andrew Garfield, Florence Pugh, Grace Delaney
Powerful and life-affirming, this richly complex film tracks one couple’s journey as they navigate marriage, identity, and parenthood under the looming shadow of illness.
