Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
IN A REMOTE fishing village in Co Kerry, a young man enters a bar which is hosting a wake. His friend has recently drowned in a tragic incident; there is sadness but perhaps not surprise, as his friend is a fisher who, like all fishers in that village, cannot swim.
Moments before the young man entered the bar, his mother said a silent prayer that her son would return from Australia. When their eyes meet as he walks in, she visibly lights up.
This scene from the beginning of God’s Creatures – starring Paul Mescal and Emily Watson, and out in cinemas next week – brings together its intertwined themes of love and tragedy. Together they will reappear in the film, again and again.
Photo Credit: Enda Bowe / A24
Photo Credit: Enda Bowe / A24 / A24
Directed by the Brooklyn-based duo Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer (The Fits), written by Shane Crowley, and produced by Fodhla Cronin-O’Reilly, the film is about a family reunited, and how the relationship between mother and son is tested when he is accused of a crime.
Mescal plays Brian, whose reasons for departure are hinted at but never properly explained. Watson is Aileen, his mother, a manager at a factory who spends her days supervising the gutting and slicing up of fish. Their family dynamic is strained; Brian and his father Con (Declan Conlon) don’t get on, while his grandfather is violent towards Aileen. Erin, Brian’s sister (Toni O’Rourke) has been able to escape the home to have a family of her own.
When Brian returns, he slots back into the family home, trailing tension with him. He meets old friends, and re-invigorates his father’s old oyster farm.
But he also reconnects with Sarah Murphy (Aisling Franciosi), a childhood friend. This will end up having ramifications not just for them both but for the entire village.
Menace and tragedy
God’s Creatures was shot in Teelin (population 300) in County Donegal, which stood stood in for Kerry. The dramatic natural setting helps to highlight the looming drama in the O’Hara family’s lives.
Behind the camera was Chayse Irvin, who is known for his work with Beyonce, Spike Lee and Andrew Dominik. He utilises the grain and depth of film to bring out the darkness and foreboding in the village setting; on screen, the waves look menacing and the seabirds feel like a hovering threat.
With the film, Cronin-O’Reilly “wanted to tell a story about the world I came from, about the hardships of local fishermen against the cruel sea and how this landscape of crashing waves can make humble lives feel epic.”
A24
A24
The entire film is layered with threats and menace, even though at the heart of it are a pair who love each other deeply. Yet Brian and Aileen are connected perhaps even beyond parental love. There’s something strange about their dynamic.
Speaking to The Journal before the film’s release, Watson agreed: “You can tell from the beginning of it something’s a bit off… she’s obsessed.”
To Mescal, Brian “understands that obsession, and is manipulative of that in places”.
“If there’s no love in that relationship, I don’t think the film works, because there’s nothing then to lose,” he added. Watson was “a very easy person to love”, said Mescal (“Right back at you,” was her immediate response to this), which made the dynamic easier to portray.
With two Oscar nominations under her belt (for 1996′s Breaking the Waves and 1998′s Hilary and Jackie), and acclaimed roles in Punch-Drunk Love (2002) and most recently, Chernobyl (2019), English native Watson is a familiar and consistently strong screen presence. Working together, Mescal (recently nominated for an Oscar in the excellent Aftersun), said that he found Emily could take the lead on set, and that “you get in behind her”.
For him, the centre of God’s Creatures was their characters’ relationship. “I think the screenplay does a lot of the work in terms of examining the strangeness of it,” he said. “I think we just, to a certain extent, just let the screenplay be the screenplay, and we try and operate as much in a loving environment as possible.”
A24
A24
Advertisement
Building characters
The shoot sounds gruelling – they had to film some major scenes while wearing waders in the sea, which were very difficult to walk in, while Watson and Franciosi had to learn how to gut a fish for their roles in the factory. Mescal spent some time learning how oyster farming worked.
They also filmed during the Covid lockdown, so the cast and crew were all in their own houses and isolating when necessary. Some of the early rehearsals had to be done by Zoom, which mustn’t have been ideal for kicking things off.
“You just have to get all four feet stuck in the trough, really,” said Watson when asked about this element.
A24
A24
“I mean, it was a very particular experience, because we were in lockdown. And we were the company of actors in this place, and that was it. And either you were going to be incredibly lonely and it was going to be very difficult, or we were going to form a very strong team. And we just went for it straightaway.”
She added: “In a film like this, you’re building characters, with a writer, with a director, with the other actors, having really interesting conversations.”
Though the actors conversed about their characters, what’s clear in the film is that Aileen and Brian never talk about what matters. They have a silent way of communicating, and know each other so well there are some things they don’t need to say out loud. But there are also hugely important things, about themselves as individuals and their family unit, that they never discuss.
“That’s one of the great strengths of [the film], I think, is they don’t really talk about anything,” said Watson. “They don’t discuss things but you really understand that dynamic, you understand how wrong it is, and how much messed up history there’s been.”
Toxic masculinity
The film appears to be set in the late 1980s or early 1990s, though that’s never made explicit. But to this viewer, the themes present felt as resonant today.
“We never really had strong discussions with Anna and Saela about the time period – I think that’s probably more so a question to them, but I think they were keen for it to maybe aesthetically feel like it’s in the 80s or 90s,” said Mescal.
“But I think emotionally [it is] a current and present story of our time as well.”
Aisling Franciosi as Sarah Photo Credit: Enda Bowe / A24
Photo Credit: Enda Bowe / A24 / A24
Added Watson: “It also predates the ubiquitous nature of the internet, social media, and mobile phones, which would bring another layer too, a different thing.” The fact that there is no social media or mobile phones allows things to happen in the film which only some people witness, but at the same time it doesn’t prevent a community from closing ranks when they choose to take a particular person’s side.
Speaking of this element, there’s a clear sense of toxic masculinity around Mescal’s character – he both imbues it and benefits from it. What was it like to play such a character?
“I think that’s politically what I was interested in being a part of in the film, that it is an examination of that,” he said. “I think Brian does have an awareness of the fact that he’s able to benefit and manipulate the system a little bit. And the system being one, the pub environment, the actual community; but also manipulate the love that he receives from his mother.”
Brian is in contrast to his breakthrough character Connell, in the Normal People TV adaptation, a young man who is trying – consciously or not – to break through the constraints of toxic masculinity. It’s yet another role that shows how Mescal is attracted to characters who reflect an element of masculinity that needs to be teased out and explored.
There’s one particular scene where Brian is clearly under stress. “He knows that he’s under pressure at that moment, and the best way to bring Aileen on side is to threaten leaving,” said Mescal. “And I think that’s somebody who’s smart - in a really dangerous way. That’s somebody who knows how to manipulate people in a way, but it’s also a survival tactic for him, which I think is just really interesting.”
Watson describes that conversation as being “on a knife’s edge”. “Because you can see me going, ‘Oh, hang on a minute, what’s going on here?’ .” When he threatens to leave, “survival instinct” kicks in, because him leaving “is death to her,” said Watson, who has made her name playing complicated, knotty characters who pursue their own aims away from the desires of other people.
When they first read the script, director Saela Davis said that “Aileen really moved us because she felt like someone we’d not experienced before in this way. We saw an opportunity to deconstruct and re-imagine the archetype of a mother constrained to the role of bystander by placing her at the center of our narrative.” If you’ve seen Watson in any other role on screen before, you’ll know, then, why she’s so excellent at Aileen. She’s so good at playing the inscrutable and unexpected.
For co-director Anna Holmer, “It was Aileen’s story, her psychology, and her change of heart that inspired us to make a film where the lives of the women in particular are full and thorough, where their interior lives are as cinematic as those sweeping vistas.”
God’s Creatures is a film that’s about one mother-son pairing, and one young woman in a remote fishing village. But in its exploration of a twisted familial love, and in how a community can turn against its own as a way of condoning toxic male behaviour, its themes are sadly universal.
God’s Creatures is in cinemas from 24 March.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
3 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Investigators vow to leave 'no stone unturned' in Washington plane crash probe as 28 bodies recovered
30 Jan
90.6k
166
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 141 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 96 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 126 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 96 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 72 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 71 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 35 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 31 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 118 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 58 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 69 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 76 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 36 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 41 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 23 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 78 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 88 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 64 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 46 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 76 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 55 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say