While Britain has a long, proud history of kitchen sink cinema, its neighbour across the Irish Sea has been developing its own realist voice too.
From Cathal Black to Lenny Abrahamson, Aisling Walsh to Darren Thornton, Gerard Barrett to Frank Berry, Irish filmmakers have not been afraid to bring the reality of people's lives to the big screen.
Now we can add Brendan Canty to the list.
Previously known for directing the video for Hozier's monster hit 'Take Me To Church,' Canty's debut movie 'Christy' has been wowing festival audiences and film critics across Europe.
In February, the film picked up the Generation 14+ Grand Prix award at the Berlin Film Festival.
Five months later, it walked away with the Best Irish Film prize at the Galway Film Fleadh.
Set in Cork, 'Christy' stars Danny Power, who some audiences may know as Conor's nemesis from the Cork based BBC and RTE sitcom 'The Young Offenders'.
At the start of Canty's film, Power's eponymous hero is in the doldrums.
Christy is frogmarched out of his foster home clutching a bin bag of belongings by his brother, Diarmuid Noyes' Shane.
Shane is furious with him that he has blown up a chance with his foster family by beating up their son - a foolish act that will haunt him throughout the film because it's been caught on a smartphone.
You feel every bristle of Shane's rage as he drives Christy from the town of Ballincollig to his native Northside to temporarily live with him, his partner Emma Willis' Stacey and their baby.
Stacey isn't initially thrilled to have Christy in their home, while Ciaran Birmingham's foster services worker Gerard starts to set about finding him a new family.
A painter decorator by trade, Shane takes Christy out on a job with him where he hits it off with Chris Walley's feckless wannabe cage fighter Trevor.
While Shane encourages Gerard behind the scenes to explore the possibility of moving Christy in with a new family in Tralee, which is about 90 minutes from Cork, his younger brother starts to settle back into the community with the help of Stacey - hanging out with a gang of teens led by Cara Cullen's Leona.
While he helps Leona and her wheelchair confined brother, Jamie Forde's Robot prepare for the latter's birthday, his neighbours discover Christy has a natural flair for cutting hair.
Encouraged by Robot and Leona's mum Helen Behan's Pauline to pursue his talent, local lads are so impressed by his handiwork that they even start to turn up at her hair salon looking for "a Christy special".
Christy also falls under the radar of a rougher branch of the family, with his cousin Lewis Brophy's Troy and Ruaidhri Conroy's Dessie hovering around him and threatening to lure him into a life of crime.
Can Christy stay on the straight and narrow as he re-establishes himself in Cork?
Or will Shane's impetuousness and frustration get the better of them both?
Adapted by Alan O'Gorman from a short film by Canty, 'Christy' plays out like an Irish 'Boyz N The Hood' as Power's teenager navigates the joys and perils of life on his Cork housing estate.
At times tough and gritty, Canty's film also surprises with its soft centre and regular bursts of warm Leeside humour.
Much of the humour comes from Christy's interactions with Leona, Robot and their gang of teens who include Ciaran McCarthy's bucket hat wearing Fingers, Sophie McNamara's Joey and Kane O'Connell Flynn's Radar.
What really lifts the soul, though, is not just the kindness shown to Christy by the community but by him as well as he gradually starts to come out of his shell.
Not only does he help Robot look smart for what turns out to be a joyous birthday party but he shows real compassion towards Alison Oliver's addict Chloe when encountering her one night in the city centre.
Normally ignored by passersbys, she is delighted when he provides a bit of company for her as she prepares to sleep rough on the stone steps and between the pillars of an old building.
Just like 'Boyz N The Hood,' Canty and O'Gorman deliver a tightrope walk of a movie where you genuinely fear Christy might fall off and pursue the life of a young offender.
Power's teenager teeters and wobbles throughout the film and much of the dramatic tension hinges on whether the community can keep him on track.
Subtly shot by cinematographer Colm Hogan, 'Christy' also makes good use of Cork locations like the imposing Knocknaheeny water tower and the hillside streets, bridges and quays of the city centre.
Ultimately it is the warmth of the performances that shines the brightest in a movie executive produced by 'Top Boy' and '71' director Yann Demange.
Power and Noyes are simply superb as a damaged set of brothers - the former recalling Martin Compston's acting debut in Ken Loach's similarly themed Glasgow coming of age drama 'Sweet Sixteen'.
Willis, Cullen and Forde are a real delight onscreen while Brophy is terrific as a cousin trapped in even worse circumstances as Christy.
Further buttressed by generous supporting turns from Walley, Oliver and Behan, 'Christy' lives long in the memory and should be a strong contender for the IFTAs next year.
It's also worth staying for the end credits featuring Forde, O'Connell Flynn and other members of the Grammy longlisted, Cork based hip hop collective Kabin Crew.
If that doesn't put a spring in your step as you leave the cinema this September, I don't know what will.
('Christy' was released in Irish cinemas on August 29, 2025 and UK cinemas on September 5, 2025)
And now from one new realist cinematic voice to a much more established name.
Mike Leigh has made 15 films, 10 plays and movies for TV and has written or directed 22 stage productions.
Along with Ken Loach, Lindsay Anderson, Lynne Ramsay and Andrea Arnold, he has been a leading light in British realist cinema - shining a light on people in society who are normally ignored.
Sometimes his stories are comic. Sometimes they are dark.
They're always superbly acted.
BAFTA nominated 'Hard Truths' falls into the darker category.
In her first collaboration with Leigh since 1996's Palme d'Or winning 'Secrets and Lies,' which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress, Marianne Jean-Baptiste is superb as Pansy Deacon, a middle aged Londoner who rants and rages at the world.
Pansy is married to David Webber's plumber Curtley, a reserved man who says little as she constantly lambasts him for his lack of ambition.
Their adult son, Tuwaine Barrett's Moses is in his own shell - often retreating to his bedroom to spend a lot of time listening to music.
Chronically shy, he is often derided and bullied by his peers when he does venture outside the house.
Pansy has a sister, Michele Austin's Chantelle, a hairdresser, who has two fun loving, upwardly mobile daughters Ani Nelson's Kayla and Sophia Brown's Aleisha.
Chantelle worries about Pansy's anxiety and misanthropy.
But it soon becomes clear just why Pansy is so anxious and why she angrily lashes out not just at her family but complete strangers.
This isn't the first time Leigh has served up a powderkeg personality at the heart of one of his films.
Who can forget David Thewlis' intelligent, angry and outspoken Johnny in his dark 1993 tragicomedy 'Naked'?
But it's a testament to Baptiste's skill that we gradually come to understand the forces that have shaped Pansy into the well of resentment that she has become.
A character who most people would probably dismiss as a nag suddenly becomes frail and human.
And when the moment of catharsis comes, as it inevitably does in a Leigh movie, at a Mother's Day celebration in Chantelle's, it's devastating.
Baptiste is superb in the lead role but, in truth, there's not a false note struck in all of the cast's performances.
Everything is believable.
Leigh and his long time collaborator cinematographer Dick Pope just let the cast improvise and do their thing.
'Hard Truths' is sad, tragic, occasionally funny, compelling and true.
And for all of those reasons, it probably didn't get the credit it deserved during awards season earlier this year.
Don't let the fact that it deals with real emotional pain deter you.
Just like 'Christy,' it is human cinema where small acts can make a huge difference.
Now that it has landed on Netflix, stretch yourself. It would be a shame not to.
('Hard Truths' was released in UK and Irish cinemas on January 31, 2025, was made available on streaming services on April 21, 2025 and was released on Netflix in the UK and Ireland on September 5, 2025)
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