ISA- Mammal

Mammal follows the story of Margaret (Rachel Griffiths, Academy Award® Nominee), a divorced woman living alone in Dublin who learns that her teenage son has been found dead. Enduring her unsettling grief privately, she escapes daily to the local swimming pool. One day at the pool she runs into Joe (Barry Keoghan), a homeless youth she found injured late one night in the deserted laneway behind her work. Margaret offers Joe a room in her house and an unorthodox relationship starts to develop between them. Margaret’s ex- husband Matt (Michael McElhatton) begins to turn up randomly in Margaret’s life. As Margaret and Joe’s mutual reliance grows their tentative trust is threatened by the escalation of Matt’s grieving rage and Joe’s involvement with a gang of violent youths. “With a firm grasp on the devastating layers of grief, Rebecca Daly’s Mammal expertly guides us through the isolating depth into which Margaret is thrust. Rachel Griffiths, Barry Keoghan, and Michael McElhatton infuse the film with raw vulnerability that pulsates with the animalistic nature of trauma. This quiet portrait of anguish further establishes Daly’s position as a director with astonishing command.”