Irish Film Institute -International Film Directory – Film Listing

Reefer and the Model

    • Director

      Joe Comerford

    • Credits

      Producer: Lelia Doolan, Writer: Joe Comerford

    • Principal Cast

      Ian McElhinney, Carol Scanlan, Sean Lawlor, Ray McBride

  • Category

    Feature
    First Wave

Joe Comerford brought his brand of sharp realist cinema to this drama about Reefer (Ian McElhinney), an ex-IRA man who picks up hitch-hiker Teresa (Carol Scanlan), a pregnant woman trying to overcome a drug addiction. Nicknaming her ‘the model’, Reefer takes Teresa back to the trawler where he lives with friends Spider (Sean Lawlor) and Badger (Ray McBride). Shadowy connections to the IRA, and a general lawlessness come to the fore as the makeshift family are forced to turn to crime to make a living. Conflicts and challenges – from IRA hunger strikes to homosexuality – are touched upon as Comerford’s sharp-eyed awareness for political and social nuance remains keen throughout. 

76 minutes (re-edited version 2014), Ireland, 1988, Colour

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