Tense new Irish thriller movie is now available to stream at home

The atmospheric and dark low-budget thriller is told in a mockumentary style.

Streaming via Eiretainment.com, the film is the feature debut of writer-director Sau Dachi and is presented as though it were a documentary. The story takes place after a series of shocking crimes perpetrated by the brothers Sean and Freddie Halpin (Paul St Leger and Alex Eydt).

Through supposed home video footage, diary entries, interviews with their friends and family and even a psychologist's analysis, the viewer learns more about what caused the Halpin brothers to go from ordinary young men to becoming "anarchically radicalised against the state".

As well as this, the movie explores the fallout of their actions, which provoke "national outrage, disgust", but also "support" in some quarters.

Just from the filmmaking side, Suit Hung, Tied Tongue is an impressive piece of work. For one, the mockumentary format, used as a way to tell the story on a low budget of around €10,000, works wonders.

From a practical sense, it enables Dachi to deploy shaky camerawork, fixed camera interviews and stock footage in a way that does not detract from the film, but actually adds to it, increasing the sense of authenticity and intensity.

Sure, there are one or two scenes that are meant to take place in a particular setting that is difficult to replicate with little money, which takes the viewer out of the movie. But for the most part, the viewer is just swept up in the story, particularly a climactic shootout captured via dashcam footage that feels visceral and like it could appear in a Hollywood action flick.

As for the story itself, the film is sure to provoke controversy as more people see it, due to its focus on political violence and vigilantism, combined with its references to real-world events: the CervicalCheck cancer scandal, Covid lockdowns, the Panama Papers.

That said, Dachi goes to great lengths not to glorify the fictional Halpin's actions by including harrowing interviews with the friends and families of their victims, as well as by taking care not to over-sensationalise the scenes in which they commit their violent acts.

The director captures these moments in a way that feels scary and unpleasant, while also shielding audiences from any on-screen carnage.

Instead, Suit Hung, Tied Tongue plays more like a cautionary tale, as if Dachi is saying that these events could happen in real life if a government doesn't look after its people and creates an environment where members of the public could become hopeless and radicalised.

As one character hauntingly notes towards the end of the film: "Every action has a reaction".

Suit Hung, Tied Tongue foregoed a typical cinema release in favour of a tour of private screenings. This was in an effort to build a "mystique" around the movie.

It is now, however, streaming on Eiretainment.com, the service that launched at the end of 2024 and exclusively showcases Irish films.

Available in the UK and Ireland, Eiretainment.com has been called "Ireland's Netflix".