The Dig

Bleakly compelling, although the last act is weak

And you, Tacitus,

observe how I make my grove

on an old crannog

piled by the fearful dead

• Seamus Heaney; "Kinship"; North (1975)

Unfortunately released the same day as a little film called Avengers: Endgame, The Dig will most likely pass from Irish cinemas without much of an impact. And that's a real shame, as it's a fine film. Written by Stuart Drennan, and directed by the Tohill brothers, Andy and Ryan, in their feature debut, the film is essentially a study of psychological breakdown, and the emotional damage that can be done by a self-appointed Sisyphean task which, by definition, can never be completed. Looking at the tendency in rural Ireland to anthropomorphise the Land, celebrating how it sustains and condemning how it betrays, the film probes the thin line between obsession and insanity, whilst also examining issues of memory, guilt, and the question of whether the guilty should be afforded an opportunity for atonement. It's bleak and oppressive (both in form and content), and doesn't feature a huge amount of (or any) laughs. Working extremely well for about three-quarters of its runtime, the script unfortunately comes undone in the last act, suddenly turning into a murder-mystery, complete with a ridiculous twist that belies the realistic minimalism employed thus far. Still though, it's beautifully shot, brilliantly acted, and very well directed, and, assuming you're finished jumping through time with Ant-Man, you could certainly do worse than checking it out.

The film begins as Ronan Callahan (the always intense Moe Dunford) returns to his hometown, having spent 15 years in jail for the murder of his girlfriend. Callahan was blind drunk the night of the murder, and remembers nothing of the incident, but as he was the last person with whom she was seen, and as her skin was found under his fingernails, he was convicted. Now tee-total, he's planning to sell his...