Released in 2019

A Good Woman Is Hard To Find

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A recently bereaved Irish mother of two, tries to make a new life and uncover who murdered her husband, but gets dragged further and further into crime, despair and danger.

 

When she learns to play those who threaten her at their own game, life becomes a whole lot darker.

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Right from the start it’s clear to see that Sarah Bolger who stars as the young mother, is a spirited and talented actress. She immerses herself into the role with such aplomb that she almost carries the film through. It is hoped that she gets a shot at far bigger projects, for her performance is charismatic and honest. However, this only serves to highlight the unevenness of the film she finds herself in.

 

Mixing genres is very popular in our modern age and audiences are ever more sophisticated, but this is a film that sometimes struggles to find an identity. It opens like a Ken Loach saga, then becomes an urban thriller and then lurches into elevated, pop psycho, crime/horror. Of course there’s nothing wrong with this merge, but here the genre mixing is clunky, and some of the plot points are just not believable. What’s world are we in? In Hollywood the world of the story is valued above all as a setting for believable films, and promoting that old chestnut,  ‘suspension of disbelief’ which is so necessary to engage any audience.

 

Sadly here the world identity is wobbly, and so time after time instead of going along with the good acting or moments that should be a dramatic thrill ride, the viewer is thinking, ‘really?’ It is not just the world of the story and the vision that falters here, but also alas the characters, who sadly come across as underdeveloped. The main character, Sarah, fluctuates a bit, and for some more educated female viewers in this ‘me too’ age she may come across as old fashioned and hard to believe despite the great performance Sarah Bolger gives.

 

That said, the technical side of the film is fine and makes the most of its probably low budget.

 

Watch for an interesting lesson in how far good acting can take a film, and to ponder on genre.

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