The Green Sea

Katherine Isabelle's depth in her character Simone kept me on the "edge of my seat" wondering what seemingly bipolar switch in scene purpose would come around the corner to scare me or calm me down. Couple Katherine's superb performance with Hazel Doupe's quietly subdued stinging silence in powerfully getting her message across to the audience this film sparked a horizon full of thoughts, fears, hopes, doubts and insight into the span oppositecapabilities of mankind and our possible choices of behavior in life.

A must see!

I went in with zero expectations and found this movie to be surprisingly impactful.

The actors were very well cast, and each portrays their character with quality. Katherine Isabelle plays the unpredictable, traumatised Simone with the genuine feel of lurching from one extreme to the next in search of something to take her away from her own memories. Hazel Doupe is an excellent stand offish, quiet kid, and is able to say much with visual cues, in comparison to the rants and outbursts of her co-star.

Of particular note is the character Justin, played by Dermot Ward, who seems to have a sincere desire to help. His interactions and attempts to assist Simone in opening up seem heartfelt and genuine. I'm surprised I've not seen more of this actor.

I was impressed with this movie overall. The house seemed dark and cold. The relationships between Simone and the Kid seem strained, whilst between Simone and Justin it seems awkward and frustrating. The Director definitely did well to convey the mistrust and fear of intimacy.

I would definitely recommend this movie.

Boring lot of tosh.

A drunk takes in a child to clean her house what she drinks and talks rubbish all day.

A skinny man with glasses pops up now and then.

Drunk is redeemed and stops drinking.

Don't watch this. It tries to be arty in a modern way by the hiding the message of to he film in amongst the poor acting and nonsense story.

Gripping, well written and produced. The location, characters and atmosphere are compelling.

A fine Irish genre/indie film. Somewhat customary for Irish genre work, the film has a very solid dramatic foundation with slimmer genre elements layered on top. It probably wouldn't be too hard to frame this as a full-on drama simply by tinkering with the styling, instead director Randal Plunkett goes for a darker, more mysterious approach and adds minor mystery and horror touches to his first full-length feature. The result is a rather stylish affair that heralds a promising career.

The film revolves around Simone, a bitter woman who lives alone in the countryside. She drinks a lot, listens to metal and spends her time trying to write her second novel. One night, driving home wasted, she hits a young girl on the side of the road. Reluctantly, she loads her into her car and lets her spend the night. The girl won't reveal where she's from and even though Simone isn't looking for company, she can't just kick her to the curb.

The Green Sea is a film that thrives on atmosphere. The soundtrack and soundscapes in particular stand out. Not even so much the metal tracks, which are more incidental and little more than background noise, but the haunting melodies and distorted rumbles that give the film a dense mood. Coupled with a grim and desaturated color palette, a lingering camera and sharply edited segments that drive up the tension, it makes for an impressively stylized film.

Plunkett does well to keep the mystery intact while revealing just enough to give the necessary context to the plot. The performances are solid, and the finale is memorable. The Green Sea loses a tiny bit of steam in the middle part, I guess a runtime closer to 90 minutes would've fitted the film a little better, other than that I had no real complaints about this one. I'm already looking forward to seeing what Plunkett will come up with next.