Sep. 03, 2021|United Kingdom | Ireland|85 Min.|n/A
Genre: Drama
Description: Two compelling performances anchor this drama by writer-director Cathy Brady. Nora-Jane Noone portrays Lauren, a woman living near the Northern Irish border with her partner and working in a large fulfillment center reminiscent of Amazon. Nika McGuigan, known for RTÉ’s TV comedy *Can’t Cope Won’t Cope*, plays her troubled sister Kelly, who returns home after a mysterious year-long absence. Their tense reunion brings back painful memories of their mother, who took her own life when they were children. Yet, Kelly’s return also reignites a fiery passion in both women as they confront the men in their community who are still entrenched in a culture of macho terrorist violence.
The film carries an added layer of sorrow, as it marks McGuigan’s final performance before her death from cancer in 2019 at the age of 33. *Wildfire* delivers powerful moments and eerily unsettling imagery, drawing comparisons to Pat Murphy’s 1981 Northern Ireland drama *Maeve*, which also explores a young woman’s return home to confront her past. One standout scene features Lauren and Kelly dancing wildly to Van Morrison’s *Gloria* in a pub, only to stop, exhausted, as if waking from a dream, and noticing a group of stern middle-aged men glaring at them from the bar.
While the film includes some slightly forced elements—like the revelation of Kelly’s pocketknife in the opening scene, which might evoke Chekhov’s rule about foreshadowing—it remains a potent drama. It also serves as a poignant tribute to McGuigan’s talent, a loss felt deeply in Irish cinema and television.
Cast director: Cathy Brady
Cast actor: Nora-Jane Noone, Nika McGuigan, Martin McCann, Helen Behan, Aiste S. Gram, David Pearse, Toni O’Rourke, Joanne Crawford, Uriel Emil Pollack, Olga Wehrly
Original name: Wildfire