It Is in Us All

'It is in us all' is not a satisfying watch. It has all the look and self-importance to become a very serious art-house deep dive into a human psychology... or something -from the mysterious characters to sweeping wide shots of the landscapes to an extended scene that nearly amounts to body-horror. I sat there and waited something to happen, to go deeper, perhaps even dark. It didn't. It's all misty to the end.

But at least it made me think about one aspect, which the director may never have intended and I may have totally blown out of proportion, but... I find the dynamic of Anglo-Irish relationship featured in the film rather interesting.

For many British (especially English), Ireland remains something blurry back in their mind. A kind of a little brother figure, still feels like a forgotten part of their nation, somewhere they can always visit and impose themselves on but nowhere they particularly want to be anyway. This attitude you can picke up from Hamish's English father. For him, Ireland is just a backwater, and the difficult relationship of the past (represented by his failed marriage to Hamish's Irish mother) is just water under the bridge. In other word, it's just not worth putting much thought to.

On the other hand, the Irish response to the English visitor is a complex mixture of curiosity, fascination, and veiled suspicion. One moment very friendly, but just below the surface there's hostility that runs deep from their acrimonious past relationship.

Hamish, half Englsih half Irish, sits right between these 2 clashing dynamics, and eventually breaks down in the subtle but unbridgeable gap. He arrivs Ireland first as a totally unsympathetic stranger. Even the fatal car accident doesn't seem to stir him much, and he seems to take it as just something happened. Only when he realises the forgotten Irish root, he finally looks around. He's inexplicably attracted to it, yet he can't really understand it nor fully accept it.

This is just my unsubstantiated rant about the film. But it could be a way to see this rather vague film? The very fact that the director chose an English actor as her leading man for her feature debut, and thus making her own country 'the Other' in the dynamic is a telltale sign.

There is something unique about this movie. A story which begins with an act of violence and ends with an act of violence, with so much aching tenderness, and barely contained emotion between. There was enough feeling in this to fill 5 films. Sit back into the rain soaked landscapes of Donegal and the atmospheric soundscapes. The sets are equally atmospheric and spartan. The costumes were sensual and deepened your intimacy with the characters. Cosmo Jarvis is a joy to watch. His ability to coax you deep into his storytelling is irresistible. And I will be seeking out and watching anything by the writer and director Antonia Campbell-Hughes. Masterful film making.

Hamish has a full head on collision, not his fault, but could have moved with more precision, leaves him with a broken arm, he later fixes with alarm, and some gaffa tape with very high adhesion. He's in Ireland to sell off his dead Aunt's home, while he's there he gets to wander and to roam, meeting up with some young guys, whose car crash friend instantly died, he seems to be in some lost world that's full of gloam.

Not even the exceptionally talented Cosmo Jarvis can raise this slow burn from its dying embers as he portrays a person you will find it difficult to align your own reality with and find any common ground.

Not sure what sort of person would either make or watch this movie. A manic depressive? A suicidal, basket case?

On the plus side, Ireland looks OK, I guess. Although it is filmed in muted tones and at night!?

I am sure some 'clever' person will talk about the 'message' of the movie but it is an interminable slog to get to the end of this uneventful , borefest.

Not sure what sort of person would either make or watch this movie. A manic depressive? A suicidal, basket case?

On the plus side, Ireland looks OK, I guess. Although it is filmed in muted tones and at night!?

I am sure some 'clever' person will talk about the 'message' of the movie but it is an interminable slog to get to the end of this uneventful , borefest.

Cosmo Jarvis personally a big fan of him.

Loved him in Calm with horses and his character in this had some great potential to push his acting chops to another level but sadly this was abit of a let down.

I am seriously still scratching my head as to what I have just watched...??????😒🤔

The film's plot was convoluted and nothing really happens to help the flow of the film its just abit strange. The relationships in the film are just odd and tedious.

Although thought provoking, dark, tense which are all good points sadly the plot made very little sense even right until the conclusion and the story throughout was just ambiguous and very confusing.

I really wanted to like this but was sadly left with a feeling of delirium to be honest.