Irish cinema has long wrestled with history, identity and landscape, perhaps nowhere more powerfully than in Ken Loach's Palme d'Or winner The Wind That Shakes the Barley. Animation has been another quiet strength, with studios like Cartoon Saloon bringing genuine beauty to folklore and myth. See what Macca made of it all below.
Country Ireland
There was, by all accounts, a ripple of delighted applause in the room when the words "directed by Saoirse Ronan" appeared on screen, and I understand it completely, she is one of the finest actors of her generation and the goodwill towards her is enormous. I only wish
Rating: 3.5★
Press play on Tomm Moore's 2009 animated feature and within seconds you're struck dumb by how gorgeous it all is. The vibrant colours, the geometric, illuminated-manuscript art style, the sheer fluidity of the movement across the screen. It's a genuine visual feast, and
Rating: 3.5★
We are absolutely saturated with cinema set in Afghanistan. From the Soviet invasion to the endless, grinding War on Terror, the country has frequently served as a backdrop for foreign filmmakers looking to capture geopolitical conflict. There is something almost reflexive about it now, the way Western productions reach for
Rating: 2.5★
If you've seen one supernatural slasher, you've essentially seen them all, and Whistle is unlikely to change your mind on that front. Corin Hardy's 2025 picture feels like someone took the Rube Goldberg mortality mechanics of Final Destination, mashed them up with the urban
Rating: 3.5★
"Everything is sacrifice, you just have to make sure you don't sacrifice the wrong thing." That line lands early in My Father's Shadow and it stays with you for the rest of the film's running time, sitting quietly at the back of
Rating: 2.0★
I've seen just about every version of The Mummy that cinema has thrown at the world. The atmospheric eeriness of the Boris Karloff original, the brilliantly goofy, globe-trotting adventures of Brendan Fraser, and yes, even the ill-fated Tom Cruise reboot that nobody asked for and nobody
Rating: 4.0★
Some documentaries inform you. The best ones change you. Jaha's Promise belongs firmly in that second category. I came away from it heartbroken, furious, and genuinely inspired, sometimes all three at once, and that emotional complexity is exactly what separates a truly vital piece of documentary filmmaking from
Rating: 2.5★
Three films in, and I'm starting to think Evil Dead and I are just not meant for each other. I went into Lee Cronin's Evil Dead Rise having already sat through both the original and Evil Dead II, neither of which exactly set my world on
Genre Drama
★★★★½ — I Swear (2025)
Genre Drama
★★★★ — The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)
Genre Family
★★★★½ — Song of the Sea (2014)
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