Film Reviews

One Hundred Mornings

• Rating:
• Director:
• Starring: Alex Reid
• Details: Ireland / 85mins (15A).

When we think of post apocalyptic movies we think of the likes of Mad Max or The Road, when the world has gone to hell in a handcart and went that way some time ago. Conor Horgan's debut film One Hundred Mornings takes a different route, setting his story a mere two months after everything went pear-shaped. It's an interesting time setting to explore some exciting themes...
Two couples - Jonathan (McMenamin) and Hannah (Reid), Mark (Keenan) and Katie (Campbell) - are holed up in a cabin on the outskirts of a small village for two months now and tensions are starting to flare. The don't have any power, food supplies are running low, villagers are wielding shotguns and the Gardai are beginning to concede control to roaming gangs. They share a cold comfort with their only neighbour - Tim (Robert O'Mahony) - who will split his vodka but won't hand over his spare rifle because 'you don't know how things will turn out.'
The setting is perfect. Things are just beginning to fall apart but they haven't got desperate... Yet. Horgan's depiction of how society would come asunder is a detailed and measured experience, and his deliberate pacing taps into the slow encroachment of disquiet that would take over - things would not fall into disarray quickly, but would creep up. Paranoia will eclipse friendship as survival instincts kick in. It's a tense movie to sit through and Horgan shields the climax until it's upon us. What's odd is with all this going on Horgan finds time to explore the notion that even though society is crumbling, people will still find a way to be excited about sex - two of the four are having an affair, which adds a certain tension to the rising temperature in the cabin.
The performances from McMenamin, down to his last few cigarettes, Alex Reid, Rory Keenan and Kelly Campbell are subtle and believable, while Paul Ronan and Tony McKenna, playing the increasingly ragged and stretched Gardai, are a delight.
The lack of answers might frustrate some (what has happened and why?), the small budget (another from the Catalyst Project) hampers some scenes, and the atmosphere in the cabin doesn't have the claustrophobia one would hope, but One Hundred Mornings is an assured debut.

Review by Gavin Burke