OUR MAN INSIDE

One of the best-reviewed Irish films of 2018 so far, Michael Inside tells of an 18-year-old Dublin man determined to not follow his dad into prison, but, holding drugs for an older brother of a friend changes all that. But, will it change Michael McCrea’s life…?

Director Frank Berry has long been fascinated with people who have fallen through the cracks, especially those who might have been pushed, by circumstance, by birth, prejudice, neglect or just a general lack of loving care.

It was there in 2011’s award-winning documentary, Ballymun Lullaby, which followed music teacher Ron Cooney as he sets about bringing a sense of pride in a community struggling to survive through a musical project that tells their story. It’s there too in 2014’s I Used To Live Here, a young teenage girl struggling with the death of her mum, and drawn to the outpouring of love displayed for a local suicide victim.

With Michael Inside, the performances by Dafhyd Flynn, Lalor Roddy and Moe Dunford helped bring Berry’s latest emotionally-charged message home, this hard-hitting but ultimately uplifting film proving a hit the Cork Film Festival and the Galway Film Fleadh before going on to win Best Film at the Irish Film & Television Awards.

The film can also boast a 100% approval rating on rottentomatoes.com, which puts this Irish film alongside the likes of Citizen Kane, The Third Man, Get Out and Inside Out.

And Greystonians can find out what that feels like when director Frank Berry introduces Michael Inside at The Whale on Wednesday, July 18^th.