Based on the writings of David Chapman and Jimmy Brennan, Withdrawal is about Jimmy, a heroin user in a Dublin psychiatric hospital. His thoughts and observations dominate, his subjective voice-over speculating on the lives of his companions. Jimmy leaves the hospital, returning to the city to reconcile with his loved ones, but his withdrawal leads ultimately to a dead end.

Reminiscent of American and European anti-narrative cinema, Withdrawal mixes drama, documentary, dance, music, unconventional shooting and editing techniques, to underscore the inevitability of Jimmy’s backward journey.

Regarding the insertion of a scene from the 1935 film version of the War of Independence  story, Guests of the Nation, Comerford explains: “It indicates my questioning of the foundation of the Irish state – what we aspired to become against what we actually became.”

Notes by Eugene Finn