A Date for Mad Mary

"Meet Mary: fresh from the slammer (post a short stay for a truculent nightclub attack on another female). Mad? Less crazy, more irate, Mary is defiant, candid, questioning - and increasingly typecast in her small-minded hometown of Drogheda (one of Dublin’s oldest villages). Shot in warm cinematic hues, this setting is initially homely and appealing. But the atmosphere is quickly turned up too high, pushing it into hotly uncomfortable territory. In Drogheda everyone knows your business. The parochial pressure of sameness and the cruelty dealt by an expectation of so-called normality overbears and constricts: it’s sincerely mean-spirited."

"Mad Mary is a delight, especially for its rounded supporting characters, its skewering use of language, and the pinpoint accuracy of its observations of life in this specific time and place."

"An anarchic wee gem."

"For his debut, Darren Thornton delivers the love child of Weekend and Once, with Seána Kerslake (Dollhouse) delivering a breakout performance."

"Kerslake and Lee leave enough of an impression to be able to use this film as a gateway to greater things."