Film Reviews

Alarm

• Rating:
• Director: Gerard Stembridge
• Starring: Aidan Turner
• Details: Ire/ 104mins / (15A)

Struggling with an unexplained trauma that happened years ago, journalist Molly (Bradley) moves away from Dublin to the safe confines of a commuter belt housing estate. Because Molly works from home and her neighbours work in Dublin, the place is a ghost town during the day, which doesn't help Molly's increasing paranoia. Even though she has a high-tech alarm fitted and moves in handsome decorator Mal (Turner), Molly still doesn't feel safe and when a series of break-ins occur in the dead of night, she begins to suspect her neighbours...

It's easy to see what writer-director Gerard Stembridge (About Adam) was trying to do - finding something odd or spooky in the ordinary, a David Lynch in Wisteria Lane psychological thriller if you will. Stembridge, however, takes so long getting down to the nitty gritty that boredom becomes an issue. In Stembridge's defence, he went for a slow burner and his reluctance to plough head on into the plot is to be commended, but his script doesn't have enough happening in the opening hour to keep interest levels high. Maybe the director felt that the performances - Bradley's descent into madness is believable, her relationship with Turner works and Owen Roe (doubling up as twins) is fun - but the lack of action kills any forward momentum.

Review by Gavin Burke