Film

Orphans (1997)

Director: Peter Mullan

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Their mother dead, the Flynns - Thomas (Lewis), Michael (Henshall), John (McCole), Sheila (Stevenson) - gather in a pub on the eve of her funeral. When Michael is stabbed in a fight with a local who mocks Thomas's maudlin sung tribute, it's the start of a long, dark night of the soul, as the siblings separately wander Glasgow trying to come to terms with feelings of grief, pride, rage and revenge: Thomas stubbornly staying in church with the coffin, disabled Sheila left to fend for herself after her wheelchair gets stuck, Michael delaying hospital treatment in order to profit by pretending his wound was caused by a work accident, and John going in search of a gun to kill his brother's attacker. Mullan's first feature as writer/director is a tough mix of searing drama and black comedy, an imaginative, sometimes surreal account of lives so afflicted by boozily confused, aggressive self-assertiveness that there seems little room left for mercy, hope or compassion.

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