Michael (Ciarán Hinds), a widower with two children and a dying father-in-law (Jim Norton), is a volunteer at a literary festival in a picturesque seaside town (Cobh, Co Cork). While chaufering festival guests, he meets gothic novelist Lena Morelle (Iben Hjejle), and Nicholas Holden (Aidan Quinn), a bad-tempered, best-selling author in hot pursuit. The awkward love-triangle that emerges between them, however, is interrupted by the dead and dying, with spectral presences continually stalking Michael.

Director Conor McPherson, co-author of the screenplay with playwright Billy Roche, delivers a mature and enigmatic love story tinged with the supernatural in this tightly crafted picture of loss and haunting.

Available on DCP in a digital restoration, from original 35mm elements, created by the IFI Irish Film Archive for IFI’s Digital Restoration Project funded by Screen Ireland/Fís Éireann, completed in 2025.

Awards:
Best Film Award at the 7th Irish Film and Television Awards 2010
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Aidan Quinn) Award at the 7th Irish Film and Television Awards 2010
Best Script for Film Award at the 7th Irish Film and Television Awards 2010