College professor Samuel O'Shea (Gabriel Byrne) is a cheating ladies' man in Montreal. He catches his wife cheating in their bed and it's yet another divorce. He starts having hallucinations and is visited by his ghost dad Ben (Brian Gleeson). It's terminal brain disease. He goes to a remote house in Ireland to write his memoirs. Charlotte Lafleur (Jessica Paré) is a local store clerk.
It takes an hour for Jessica Paré to enter the picture. I expected it to be sooner and in Montreal. Then the movie splits into the two locations and I don't care about Samuel's family when he's not there. The story telling is a bit wonky. The surreal hallucinations are a little silly at times. Despite all the issues, this has Gabriel Byrne and he makes this compelling. I do like the big twist despite expecting something exactly like that. The Leonard Cohen songs are an interesting choice, but the film needs to have the guts to go full musical. They do that at the end and that's a little too late. This movie is a bit of a mess, but an interesting mess. I definitely would bring in Paré sooner and have that character be the central premise.
It takes an hour for Jessica Paré to enter the picture. I expected it to be sooner and in Montreal. Then the movie splits into the two locations and I don't care about Samuel's family when he's not there. The story telling is a bit wonky. The surreal hallucinations are a little silly at times. Despite all the issues, this has Gabriel Byrne and he makes this compelling. I do like the big twist despite expecting something exactly like that. The Leonard Cohen songs are an interesting choice, but the film needs to have the guts to go full musical. They do that at the end and that's a little too late. This movie is a bit of a mess, but an interesting mess. I definitely would bring in Paré sooner and have that character be the central premise.