A MOTHER KNOWS (GOD'S CREATURES)

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The French novelist Honor de Balzac once observed: "The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness."

That premise is very much put to the test in Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holder's intense Irish fishing village drama 'God's Creatures'.

Emily Watson plays Aileen O'Hara, a shift manager in a local seafood processing plant in her village and mother to Toni O'Rourke's Erin and Paul Mescal's absent son Brian.

Married to Declan Conlon's Con, she also look after her father in law, Lalor Roddy's Paddy who has become withdrawn due to the ravages of dementia.

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Her co-workers include Marion O'Dwyer's Mary Fitz, who at the start of the film suffers the loss of her son Mark at sea and Aisling Franciosi's Sarah Murphy who is in an abusive marriage to Brendan McCormack's Francie d'Arcey.

So far so bleak, you're thinking.

Well, it gets even bleaker.

While the villagers gather at the local pub run by Enda Oates' Dan Neil after Mark's burial, Aileen is stunned to see her prodigal son Brian unexpectedly return from Australia.

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Amid all the sorrow, she's overjoyed and struggling to keep a lid on it.

Brian, however, is secretive by he has suddenly returned but says he is determined to resurrect a family business farming oysters.

Aileen is delighted and supportive of her son's endeavour, while enjoying nights out with him at their local attending trad music sessions.

Resurrecting the business isn't easy, though, and there are setbacks.

Brian also takes to poaching, making money on the side by selling fish he has stolen from other traps which angers Con.

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But there is worse to come when Aileen is summoned to the local Garda station after she has been on a night out with Brian.

There she is told by Andrew Bennett's Garda officer Mike that a serious allegation of sexual assault has been made against her son and is asked to verify his alibi that he was at home with her at the time of the attack.

The victim is Sarah and Aileen immediately vouches for her son, even though she knows he wasn't.

But as tensions rise in the village and the family home, will Aileen confront her son about his whereabouts on the night of the assault?

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Working from a screenplay by Shane Crowley from a story he dreamt up with producer Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly, Davis and Holder methodically build the tension in this sombre fishing village drama.

The result is a movie that feels ponderous to the point where the plot execution actually starts to resemble its characters slowly wading against the tide.

Every ounce of symbolism is squeezed in this claustrophobic tale impressively shot by Chayse Irvin.

However the legginess of the narrative is rescued by the performances.

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Watson has always been one of those actors who can convey so much with a simple glance.

But in 'God's Creatures' she is working overtime - using her eyes to mesmerising effect to capture the conflicting emotions of Aileen throughout the film.

It is great awards worthy acting, elevating a film that never completely convinces.

However she is not alone.

Mescal is also excellent, bringing a Michael Fassbender style ambivalence to the part of Brian for much of the film.

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The recent Best Actor Oscar nominee clearly enjoys bouncing off Watson and is on top form, keeping the audience guessing for much of the film about Brian's past and present.

Franciosi turns in another compelling screw  performance as Sarah whose damaged presence haunts Aileen and Brian in the latter half of the film.

In the supporting roles, O'Rourke, Conlon, O'Dwyer, McCormack, Roddy, Bennett, Oates, Leah Minto as Aileen and Sarah's colleague Sheila and Isabelle Connolly as Emma rise above and beyond the weaknesses in the script.

What you end up with in 'God's Creatures' is a movie that is worth watching for the strength of its performances and the important issues it raises.

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However, its execution just feels slightly off kilter.

'God's Creatures' feels like a watery version of Jim Sheridan's 'The Field' fused with 'High Noon'.

And while the film is undoubtedly a testament to great screen acting, unfortunately Davis and Holder's work is just too laboured and sodden to pack the same emotional punch as those two movies.

It a decent try but it's simply not strong enough.

('God's Creatures' was released in Irish cinemas on March 23, 2023 and UK cinemas on March 31, 2023)