Set in a bleak and grey corner of Ireland, Nick Rowlands makes his directorial debut with this gritty family crime drama , adapted from one short story in Colin Barrett’s collection Young Skins.

Douglas ’Arm’ Armstrong (Cosmo Jarvis) is a powerhouse and implacable enforcer, retained by the drug-dealing Devers family to mete out whatever punishment they see fit

Arm, a former boxer who has become damaged over time after leading a life beset by violence is kept on a leash by the chillingly cruel and bullying Devers Dympna (Barry Keoghan).

His one path out of his destructive lifestyle is through his ex-girlfriend Ursula (Niamh Algar) and their autistic five-year-old son Jack (Kiljan Tyr Moroney).

As he becomes mired in the life of the Devers hit man, Ursula tries to reason with him, and to get him to see the effect it is having on their son.

Eventually Arm begins to see similarities between his own behaviour and upbringing with his son’s suggesting to Arm that they share the same condition.

However, Dympna’s hooks are embedded too deeply into him and he is unable to walk away, even when the jobs become more and more violent, with deadly consequences.

Breathtakingly taut and brimming with explosive tension, Jarvis, who is unrecognisable from his nuanced role in the recent Lady Macbeth, delivers a stunning portrayal as the conflicted thug.

Its a role that requires few lines but Arm conveys more than words with just his physical presence.

Cosmo was dedicated to immersing himself into his character’s environment for Irish drama Calm With Horses.

Set in the fictional town of Glanbeigh, the film was shot on location in the west of Ireland.

The 30-year-old actor, who was born in the US but raised in Totnes, Devon, with an Armenian-American mother and English father, moved to the region five weeks before filming began.

And from that point on, until the film had wrapped, he only spoke in an Irish accent.

’I used as much time as I could in Ireland to try and understand the essence of the people from the place,’ said Cosmo.

’Everybody is an individual, but your environment is a big factor, so it was good to familiarise myself with the intricacies of how they talk.

’I hoped it would become second nature, so once we started shooting, those habits would be inside me.’

by Island Life Reviewer

Twitter:@iomnewspapers

Calm with horses (15)

Broadway Cinema

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