MOVIE: The next great Irish director has arrived

Paul O’Rourke

NEIL Jordan, Jim Sheridan, Lenny Abrahamson. All very talented and successful Irish and international directors. And there’s about to be another addition to that short list, but this time, it’s a woman.

Aoife McArdle (whose parents both hail from Louth) grew up in Omagh, studied English and Film at Trinity College Dublin and earned her movie masters at Bournemouth University. 

McArdle quickly established herself as a director of music videos, working with such luminaries as James Vincent McMorrow, Bryan Ferry and more recently, U2. 

Not content to rest on her laurels, her first feature film, ‘Kissing Candice’, is about to hit cinemas nationwide this week.

The movie tells the story of 17-year-old Candice, who lives in a nondescript and lifeless border town. Unable to physically escape, she uses her vivid imagination to make life more interesting, but her dreams sometimes foretell the danger that lies ahead, and when Candice falls into the wrong company with a local gang, real life begins to mirror the reality of her nightmares. 

Ann Skelly (‘Red Rock’) takes on the lead role with a haunting and accomplished performance and is supported by an excellent turn from Ryan Lincoln as gang member, Jacob. 

Candice remarks during the film that it’s sometimes difficult to know the difference between dreams and reality, and this theme is used to great effect by McArdle who conjures up an ethereal hypnotic mood throughout. In a recent interview the director confessed to being obsessed with every aspect of storytelling, something that’s clearly paid off as she demonstrates a knowledge of how to create a scene, where to place a camera and how to extract a performance, that is way beyond her years.

The story, also written by McArdle, could be more innovative, continuing as it does the theme of gangland conflict so loved by Irish filmmakers. 

Had it been stronger, this would be a flawless review. But for her visual storytelling, attention to detail, ability to build tension and bravery in creating something very different, we award McArdle five breakout stars and bet she will be greatly sought after in the years to come.