Joining Four Mothers and My Sailor, My Love in the welcome, growing canon of Irish films featuring older protagonists, Sunphlowers is an understated Irish drama about grief, resilience and self-discovery.
Catastrophe arrives suddenly in Dave Byrne’s emotionally grounded debut feature, but the healing unfolds slowly: through colour, community and friendship.
Set against the arresting landscapes of north Co Dublin, this heartfelt Irish drama follows Catherine (Anne McCrudden), a recently widowed woman whose husband leaves behind a mountain of hidden debts and evidence of marital infidelity. With the family farm on the line, she faces an impossible choice: hand it over to the bank or begin again.
What follows is a quietly moving journey of renewal. McCrudden gives a performance of exquisite subtlety and strength: her Catherine is grief-stricken, guarded and resourceful.
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Save for an outburst at the kitchen table when her adult children are lionising the memory of their unreliable father, the film’s emotional register lies in moments of stillness and defiance.
Catherine’s transformation is captured not in dialogue but in paint strokes. Encouraged by the kind Tony (Patrick Bergin) and a local teacher (Jerry Fish), Catherine joins an art class. One of her paintings – titled Sunphlowers – becomes both a symbol and solution: she remodels the ailing farm as a sunflower business.
A lesser film might coalesce into an autumnal romance or amplify Catherine’s plucky entrepreneurship, but Sunphlowers swerves sentiment and convenient happy-ever-afters.
Shot over just 16 days on a shoestring budget, the film is a testament to commitment and craft. Byrne’s direction is sincere, with a terrific eye for emotional subtext.
Fans of the complexities of rural life depicted in Pat Collins’s That They May Face the Rising Sun will find much to admire. Cinematographer Graham Seely’s shifting visual palette – miserably grey, then increasingly windswept and vibrant – keeps step with Catherine’s steely transformation.
In cinemas from Friday, September 26th
