While watching “God’s Creatures,” I was reminded of a Billy Joel lyric and a line of dialogue from the movie “The Departed.” The Joel song “Through the Long Night” opens with “the cold hands, the sad eyes, the dark Irish silence.” In “The Departed,” Matt Damon’s character states “What [Sigmund] Freud said about the Irish is: We’re the only people who are impervious to psychoanalysis.”
Many of the characters in “God’s Creatures” indeed have cold hands, sad eyes, and exhibit dark Irish silence, and, chances are, the best psychotherapist in the world couldn’t prod any of them into saying boo. These are a people (and, for the record, over half of my DNA is Irish based) who can sustain poker faces and carry grudges for years, if not decades, and seem to have a sixth sense as to know exactly when to open up their own respective emotional pressure valves.
Clear Villain
Co-written by Shane Crowley and producer Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, “God’s Creatures” is a psychological dramatic mystery which isn’t all that mysterious. There is a heinous crime committed, we know who did it, and who the victim is. Of that there is no doubt, and it is practically an incidental sub-plot.The first live-action feature directed by Anna Rose Holmer and Saela Davis, the movie opens with the unexpected return home of Brian O’Hara (BAFTA winner Paul Mescal, “Normal People”), the wayward son who has spent the last seven years in Australia. Why he left in the first place and why he’s come back is never made clear, and it doesn’t really matter. It becomes evident early on he’s a malcontent lay-about with little drive and questionable morals and ethics.
None of Brian’s foibles and shortcomings carry any weight with his mother Aileen (Emily Watson) who, when first laying eyes on him in a pub, reacts as if it’s the Second Coming. She tears up, they embrace with the torque of a vice grip, and she is thrilled beyond repair. This is the polar opposite reaction of Brian’s father Con (Declon Conlon) who doesn’t make eye contact with him while barely shaking his hand.
Blind Allegiance
At first, Aileen’s bosses and co-workers (including Aisling Franciosi as Sarah Murphy) turn a blind eye to her blatant nepotism and favoritism, but this ends abruptly once Brian is accused of a physical assault. He reacts by stating he was with his mother at the time the alleged incident occurred, and without hesitation or ever inquiring about the particulars of the crime or the statements of the victim, Aileen provides him with an air-tight alibi.It’s the Cover-Up
It is often said, and history has made this abundantly clear multiple times, that “it’s not the crime; it’s the cover-up.” Given his nebulous and dubious history, Brian’s denial of committing a crime is practically expected. Aileen providing false cover for him is not, and the slowly eroding believability in her story eventually takes its toll on multiple levels. Aileen’s methodical, emotional unraveling is a cinematic onion peel and the slow removal of an overly adhesive band-aid.With the possible exception of Cate Blanchett, it’s hard to imagine any other actress besides Watson as Aileen. In the wake of the back-to-back Academy Award-nominated performances in “Breaking the Waves” (1996) and “Hilary and Jackie” (1998), Watson’s profile within the industry rose considerably, yet either by choice or chance, she has only appeared twice in what most would consider high-profile mainstream films (“War Horse” and “Kingsman: The Golden Circle”).
As award-worthy as Watson’s performance might be, the behind-the-scenes efforts of sound designer Chris Foster, cinematographer Chayse Irvin, and composers Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans are what makes “God’s Creatures” impossible to shake or forget.
Unlike most movies shot in Ireland, Irvin chooses to drain the green landscapes and blue waters of hue and replaces them with muted grays and blacks. The opening title sequence makes the Atlantic Ocean appear as a waving pool of oil.
Aside from singer Franciosi’s two haunting a cappella, Greek chorus dirges, the score is comprised solely of percussive instruments and ambient synthesized strings paired with the squawks and cries of ravens, seagulls, and the occasional albatross. The effect is beyond disquieting and ominous.
In crafting their morality play, the four filmmakers deserve bonus points, not so much for what they include, but rather what they regulate to the margins.
It is the film’s cinematic body language that lands a thundering gut-punch.
