A young Dublin cab driver, John (Jack Reynor), barely makes ends meet. He shares social housing with his mother Jean (Toni Collette), who is systematically drinking herself to death. Hospitalized after another overdose, Jean’s best hope is a costly private rehab clinic. Desperate, John takes a shady job from the ambiguous criminal element he’s loosely connected to.
It takes a special sensibility to capture a bleak reality while still giving tremendous vitality to the storytelling, but that’s exactly what writer-director Gerard Barrett (Pilgrim Hill) brings to Glassland. Its poetic realism and quiet intensity take hold early and never let go.
Barrett pushes his characters in surprising, even funny directions, and Glassland’s emotional power hinges on spellbinding performances from Collette and burgeoning talents Reynor (What Richard Did) and Poulter (We’re the Millers).
John Nein
Sundance Film Festival
With special guests Gerard Barrett and Jack Reynor
With the support of the Australian Embassy
Please note that the festival is for over 18s only
