The Delinquent Season

I enjoyed this drama story through its runtime. The story, the sudden twist, great screenplay real performances make it so watchable and enjoyable. Totally recommended!!

In a time when movies often don't fully portray the aftermath of betrayal, I felt this movie reminded me what I seem to have been indifferent to, dare I say forgotten. The main thing I think this film tries to do, is provoke its' audience to rethink the aftermath of betrayal. Nowadays, the whole relationship institution has dissolved into nothing substantial. Whilst emphasizing the collapse of loyalty between the partners and to the marriage itself, the movie has awakened the inevitable consequence of each disloyal act we partake in, when in a relationship.

The actors were fantastic and Cillian Murphy's performance definitely stood out. It's certainly a refreshing change to see him portray a character that's preserving a tiny portion of his own nature, so it seems.

I must say though, at first, I thought the movie was rather boring during the first twenty minutes. Only then did I realize that as boring as it was to watch the characters day to day life, it must be dreadful to actually live as such, thus explaining, and ultimately leading, to the acts of infidelity.

The Delinquent Season tells the story of two married couples living in Dublin; Jim (Cillian Murphy) and Danielle (Eva Birthistle), and Chris (Andrew Scott) and Yvonne (Catherine Walker). As the foursome are having dinner one evening, an argument breaks out between Chris and Yvonne, with Chris behaving in a worryingly irrational manner. A few days later, Chris confides in Jim as to why he's been having mood swings of late, swearing Jim to secrecy. Over the next few weeks, as Chris's mood swings become physically aggressive, Yvonne turns to Jim for support, and soon, they are in the midst of an affair. Jim, however, continues to keep Chris's secret.

The film treats well the topic of middle-class malaise and ennui, deftly shifting the audience's sympathy multiple times throughout. However, in his feature directorial debut, Mark O'Rowe misses a great opportunity for a really powerful dénouement, letting the narrative drag on for 10 minutes or so too long. Still though, it's well acted, and extremely realistic, attaining an almost documentarian objectivity at times. Well worth checking out.

I think this film deserves a better rating owing to the fabulous performances of all the 4 main actors. A tender and sensitive portrayal of a very real subject.

When I read last year that Andrew Scott and Cillian Murphy would be making a film together I got very excited, as they are both absolute favourites of mine. When I then read some online reviews after the film came out in Ireland, criticising it as boring, hugely disappointing and dull I almost didn't watch it, and how sad that would have been. I'm not entirely sure which film these critics saw, but I found it anything but boring and disappointing. Quite the contrary... I watched it about 5 days ago and it is still stuck in my head and I keep of finding myself thinking back to it. Yes, it is slow paced in places, it doesn't have crazy twists and turns every 15 minutes and if you compare it to other relationship & affair dramas it's nowhere near as shocking, but thats exactly what made it so much more interesting to me. It's so realistic! It feels exactly what I'd imagine it would feel like to have an affair, and the the way the story unfolds is extremely close to life and makes you feel exhilarated but completely uncomfortable at the same time. Yes, you can tell that the director has only directed theatre productions, which gives the film a certain spareness, but once again this makes it more unique to me. It's not overloaded with side stories and mind blowing cinematography, it gets to the point of human feelings & needs. The constant questioning of what is right and wrong, of what makes you happy and how far you're allowed to go for it, of who you are and who you want to be and the issues you might have with yourself that lead to having an affair are so well played out, so is the struggle with love vs. lust and what it all really means! At the end I felt like I really knew these people, and I deeply felt for them. It's such a small but perfect cast and such a tender and yet uncomfortable story. I personally can only very highly recommend it and will definitely watch it again.