Everything was fine yesterday.

Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Pat Shortt, Gary Lydon, Jon Kenny, Barry Keoghan, Sheila Flitton, John Carty, David Pearse

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"What I've decided to do is this. I have a set of shears at home. And each time you bother me from this day on, I'll take those shears and I'll take one of me fingers off with them. And I'll give that finger to ya." - Colm Doherty

Why watch this? Irish to the core, this tragi-comedy focus on two men stuck on a friendship going nowhere.

Plot Summary: This film, set on a fictional island off the west coast of Ireland in 1923, centers on two local tavern regulars, friends my most standards. Colm Doherty abruptly ends the friendship, much to the surprise of Pádraic Súilleabháin. When Pádraic confronts Colm for an explanation, Colm, as gentle as possible, confesses that he finds Pádraic boring... and that he wants to compose music, a thing for which he hopes to be remembered. Pádraic simply cannot understand this, and he keeps bothering Colm who eventually issues an ultimatum: "If you bother me again, I'll cut off one of my fingers, each time."

Dad's Preview: It's shocking, yet simple; poignant yet sometimes quite funny. This is very intentionally an Irish folk fable about men, their relationships, and how deep the oath of loyalty runs. A sudden break, especially for a weak reason, can pervert the outcome into something beyond rational thought. It sings like an Irish gig, only the subject is a tragedy and people are losing their toes. The performances by Farrell and Gleeson are magnificent, as is the story itself. I also enjoyed Kerry Condon as Pádraic's isolated sister Siobhán - her release from the troubled island is perhaps the film's only bright spot. But the dark is lovely, too, and hard not to enjoy. And the banshee - she will have her death in the end, but who will it be?

Blueprint Pictures, Film4, TSG Entertainment; Searchlight Pictures