Glasgow Film Festival 2023: ‘God’s Creatures’ Review
Stars: Emily Watson, Paul Mescal, Aishling Franciosi | Written by Shane Crowley | Directed by Saela Davis, Anna Rose Holmer
In a small Irish fishing town, a son unexpectedly comes home from Australia out of the blue. Though his mother is delighted, the rest of his family appear to be wary — up until the night of an alleged sexual assault. In the wake of the son’s actions, the mother tells a lie that changes the course of their dynamic and community relationships.
Cinema — in general terms — deserves its kudos for passing the floor to varying perspectives of sexual assault and harassment. It’s a matter that the bulk of the world are still struggling to take seriously, and seeing a salt-of-the-earth mother risk it all in order to protect her perverse son is something that should be a head jolt. Even when its heart (and head) is in the right place, God’s Creatures often struggles to land the emotive, weighty punches it certainly needs to drive its loaded message home.
It’s safe to say that this isn’t the first time that Emily Watson has been confronted with immoral sexual encounters on a barren island with its locals in communication jeopardy. Since her outstanding debut in Breaking The Waves, she has neither delivered anything other than an exceptional performance nor been shy of proclivity in her work. If anyone was up to the challenge of portraying a mother in a loaded anguish, it’s her. Watson is easily the film’s saving grace, going above and beyond to inspire a narrative that’s drowning in the town’s main export of fish guts. Her fictional son, played by recent Academy Award nominee Paul Mescal, is somewhat more tepid. Without much emotional connection or family grounding, Mescal is functional in his role at best, unable to fully realize the complexity that God’s Creatures needs.
The fact that this cinematic ship is being pioneered by two women simultaneously is both a well-kept secret and a complete giveaway. Visually, directors Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer keep things tight, coldly staring into an Irish abyss of seaweed, fiddle playing, and homemade tea to great effect. Yet in the framework of its storyline, things feel more half-baked. There is never enough to grasp onto in order to connect the dots with severity, nor is there any particular empathy for any character as they grapple with a situation as yet not previously vocalised. Most of the family go through the motions, failing to reach out to Erin who is dealing with a monumental level of trauma. As expected, it’s the woman who has to leave a start a new life, which — though perhaps the sensible choice — says more about our unconscious bias than we’d like it to.
It’s said that there are two types of A24 film — the ones that take off, and the ones that don’t. Unfortunately, God’s Creatures easily falls into the latter description, failing to shred enough meat off of the fish bones to drive home its intended unique perspective.
*** 3/5
God’s Creatures screened as part of this year’s Glasgow Film Festival.
