Cinema Releases - Rose Plays Julie
The latest film from Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor, the directors of Helen, Mister John and Further Beyond, has been picking up great notices since its premiere at the London Film Festival in October 2019.
Rose (Ann Skelly), an adopted child, is at university studying veterinary science. For as long as Rose can remember, she has wanted to know who her biological parents are and the facts of her true identity. After years trying to trace her birth mother, Rose now has a name and a number. All she has to do is pick up the phone and call. When she does, it quickly becomes clear that her birth mother has no wish to have any contact. Rose is shattered. A renewed and deepened sense of rejection compels her to keep going. Rose travels from Dublin to London in an effort to confront her birth mother, Ellen (Orla Brady).
Ellen is deeply disturbed when Rose turns up unannounced. But Rose proves very tenacious and Ellen is forced to reveal a secret she has kept hidden for over 20 years. This revelation forces Rose to accept the nature of how she came into existence.
Rose believes she has little to lose but much to gain when she sets out to confront her biological father, Peter (Aidan Gillen).
What Rose cannot possibly foresee is that she is on a collision course that will prove both violent and unsettling – dark forces gather and threaten to destroy her already fragile sense of her own identity.
Cert 15
Curzon Bloomsbury Fri 17th Sept 6.20pm - With directors Christine Molly and Joe Lawlor and lead actress Orla Brady
Watershed Bristol Sun 19th Sept 3pm - With co-director Christine Molloy
HOME Manchester Mon 20th Sept 6pm - With co-director Christine Molloy
Tyneside Newcastle Tue 21st Sept 6pm - With co-director Christine Molloy
Week starting 17th September
Curzon Bloomsbury | Brunswick Centre | London WC1N 1AW | 08719 642838 | all week |
Picturehouse Central | Gt Windmill St/Shaftesbury Ave | London W1D 7DH | 0871 902 5747 | all week |
Hackney Picturehouse | 270 Mare St | London E8 1HE | 0871 902 5747 | all week |
Barbican Cinema | Beech St | London EC2Y 8AE | all week | |
Gate, Notting Hill | 87 Notting Hill Gate | London W11 3JZ | 0871 902 5747 | all week |
ICA Cinema | The Mall | London SW1Y 5AH | 020 7930 3647 | all week |
BFI Southbank | Belvedere Rd | London SE1 8XT | 020 7928 3232 | all week |
Arthouse Crouch End | 159a Tottenham Lane | London N8 9BT | 020 8245 3099 | all week |
Fulham Rd Picturehouse | 142 Fulham Rd | London SW10 9DR | 0871 902 5747 | all week |
Ritzy | Brixton Oval | London SW2 1JG | 0871 902 5747 | all week |
Crouch End Picturehouse | 165 Tottenham Lane | London N8 9BY | 0871 902 5747 | all week |
Greenwich Picturehouse | 180 Greenwich High Rd | London SE10 8NN | 0871 902 5747 | all week |
Rich Mix | 35-47 Bethnal Green Rd | London E1 6LA | 020 7613 7498 | all week |
The Chiswick Cinema | 94-96 Chiswick High Rd | London W4 1SH | all week | |
Riverside | 101 Queen Caroline St | London W6 9BN | 020 8237 1000 | all week |
Stratford Picturehouse | Salway Rd | London E15 1BX | 0871 902 5747 | all week |
Showroom | 15 Paternoster Row | Sheffield S1 2BX | 0114 2757727 | all week |
Watershed | 1 Canon's Road | Bristol BS1 5TX | 0117 9275100 | all week |
HOME | 2 Tony Wilson Place | Manchester M15 4FN | 0161 2001500 | all week |
Filmhouse | 88 Lothian Rd | Edinburgh EH3 9BZ | 0131 228 2688 | all week |
Glasgow Film Theatre | 12 Rose St | Glasgow G3 6RB | 0141 332 6535 | all week |
Arts Picturehouse | 38-39 St Andrews St | Cambridge CB2 3AE | 0871 902 5747 | all week |
Dukes at Komedia | 44-47 Garner St | Brighton BN1 1UN | 0871 902 5747 | all week |
Picturehouse at FACT | 88 Wood St | Liverpool L1 4DQ | 0871 902 5747 | all week |
Tyneside | 8-10 Pligrim St | Newcastle NE1 6QG | 0191 227 5500 | all week |
Belmont Filmhouse | 49 Belmont St | Aberdeen AB10 1JS | 01224 343500 | all week |
Broadway Cinema | Eastcheap | Letchworth SG6 3DD | 01462 681300 | all week |
City Screen Picturehouse | 13-17 Coney St | York YO1 9QL | 0871 902 5747 | all week |
Cinema City | St Andrew's St | Norwich NR2 4AD | 0871 902 5747 | all week |
Harbour Lights | Ocean Village | Southampton SO14 3TL | 0871 902 5747 | all week |
Reading Biscuit Factory | 47 Oxford Rd | Reading RG1 7QE | all week | |
IRELAND: | ||||
Queens Film Theatre | 20 University Square | Belfast BT7 1PA | 028 9097 1305 | all week |
IFI | 6 Eustace St | Dublin DO2 PD85 | 01 679 3477 | all week |
Light House | Smithfield | Dublin 7 | 01 872 8006 | all week |
Omniplex Rathmines | 210 Rathmines Rd Lower | Dublin 6 | 01 485 1298 | all week |
Movies@Dundrum | Sandyford Rd | Dublin 16 | 01 291 6802 | all week |
Savoy | 17 O'Connell St Upper | Dublin 1 | 01 874 8822 | all week |
IMC Dun Loaghaire | George's St Lower | Dun Laoghaire | 01 230 1367 | all week |
Mahon Point Omniplex | 1 Link Rd, Mahon | Cork | 021 475 7582 | all week |
Salthill Omniplex | Upper Salthill Rd | Galway | 091 456 446 | all week |
The Gate Cinema | North Main St | Cork | 021 427 9595 | all week |
IMC Galway | Galway Retail Pk, Headford Rd | Galway | 091 566 771 | all week |
Palas | 15 Merchants Rd Lower | Galway | 091 394 800 | all week |
Omniplex Dundonald | East Point Ent. Village, Old Dundonald Rd | Belfast BT16 1YG | 028 4031 0112 | all week |
Week starting 24th September
Curzon Bloomsbury | Brunswick Centre | London WC1N 1AW | 08719 642838 | all week |
Hackney Picturehouse | 270 Mare St | London E8 1HE | 0871 902 5747 | all week (not Thu) |
ICA Cinema | The Mall | London SW1Y 5AH | 020 7930 3647 | 25,26,29 |
BFI Southbank | Belvedere Rd | London SE1 8XT | 020 7928 3232 | all week |
Arthouse Crouch End | 159a Tottenham Lane | London N8 9BT | 020 8245 3099 | all week |
Fulham Rd Picturehouse | 142 Fulham Rd | London SW10 9DR | 0871 902 5747 | all week (not Thu) |
Crouch End Picturehouse | 165 Tottenham Lane | London N8 9BY | 0871 902 5747 | 24,27.28/9 |
Finsbury Park Picturehouse | 17 City North Place | London N4 3FU | 0871 902 5747 | all week |
Stratford Picturehouse | Salway Rd | London E15 1BX | 0871 902 5747 | all week (not Sun or Thu) |
The Castle Cinema | 64-66 Brooksby's Walk | London E9 6DA | all week | |
HOME | 2 Tony Wilson Place | Manchester M15 4FN | 0161 2001500 | all week |
Arts Picturehouse | 38-39 St Andrews St | Cambridge CB2 3AE | 0871 902 5747 | all week (not Sun or Thu) |
Tyneside | 8-10 Pligrim St | Newcastle NE1 6QG | 0191 227 5500 | all week |
City Screen Picturehouse | 13-17 Coney St | York YO1 9QL | 0871 902 5747 | 28,29 Sept only |
Reading Biscuit Factory | 47 Oxford Rd | Reading RG1 7QE | all week | |
Depot | Pinwell Rd | Lewes BN7 2JS | 01273 525534 | all week |
Regal | 2 Boroma Way | Henley RG6 2BZ | 0871 902 5747 | 24,25,27,28/9 |
IRELAND: | ||||
IFI | 6 Eustace St | Dublin DO2 PD85 | 01 679 3477 | all week |
Light House | Smithfield | Dublin 7 | 01 679 3477 | all week |
Omniplex Rathmines | 210 Rathmines Rd Lower | Dublin 6 | 01 485 1298 | all week |
Movies@Dundrum | Sandyford Rd | Dublin 16 | 01 291 6802 | all week |
IMC Dun Loaghaire | George's St Lower | Dun Laoghaire | 01 230 1367 | all week |
Mahon Point Omniplex | 1 Link Rd, Mahon | Cork | 021 475 7582 | all week |
Salthill Omniplex | Upper Salthill Rd | Galway | 091 456 446 | all week |
The Gate Cinema | North Main St | Cork | 021 427 9595 | all week |
Palas | 15 Merchants Rd Lower | Galway | 091 394 800 | all week |
Gate Cinemas, Midleton | Market Green, Townparks | Midleton, Co.Cork | 021 463 0066 | all week |
Gate Cinemas, Mallow | Market Square | Mallow, Co. Cork | 022 53282 | all week |
Omniplex Dundonald | East Point Ent. Village, Old Dundonald Rd | Belfast BT16 1YG | 028 4031 0112 | all week |
Week starting 1st October
BFI Southbank | Belvedere Rd | London SE1 8XT | 020 7928 3232 | all week |
Arthouse Crouch End | 159a Tottenham Lane | London N8 9BT | 020 8245 3099 | all week |
The Castle Cinema | 64-66 Brooksby's Walk | London E9 6DA | all week | |
HOME | 2 Tony Wilson Place | Manchester M15 4FN | 0161 2001500 | all week |
Tyneside | 8-10 Pligrim St | Newcastle NE1 6QG | 0191 227 5500 | 1,2,6 Oct |
Ipswich Film Theatre | King St | Ipswich IP1 1DH | 1-3 Oct | |
Regent Centre | 51 High St | Christchurch BH23 1AS | 01202 499199 | 3 & 7 Oct |
Pictureville | National Science & Media Mus. | Bradford BD1 1NG | 033 0058 0058 | 1 & 2 Oct |
Dundee Contemporary Arts | 152 Nethergate | Dundee DD1 4DY | 01382 909900 | all week |
IRELAND: | ||||
Light House | Smithfield | Dublin 7 | 01 679 3477 | all week |
Week starting 8th October
HOME | 2 Tony Wilson Place | Manchester M15 4FN | 0161 200 1500 | all week |
Rio Cinema | 107 Kingsland High St | London E8 2PB | 020 7241 9410 | all week |
Pictureville | National Science & Media Mus. | Bradford BD1 1NG | 033 0058 0058 | 13 Oct |
Exeter Phoenix | Gandy St | Exeter EX4 3LS | 01392 667080 | 8,10.11,14 |
Broadway | 14-18 Broad St | Nottingham NG1 3AL | 0115 952 6600 | 13/14 Oct |
IRELAND: | ||||
Light House | Smithfield | Dublin 7 | 01 679 3477 | 8 & 10 Oct |
Week starting 15th October
JW3 | 341-351 Finchley Rd | London NW3 6ET | 020 7433 8988 | all week |
Ultimate Picture Palace | Jeune St | Oxford OX4 1BN | 01865 245288 | 15/16/18/19/21 Oct |
Midlands Art Centre | Cannon Hill Park | Birmingham B12 9QH | 0121 446 3232 | 15-20 Oct |
Firstsite | Lewis Gardens | Colchester CO1 1JH | 01206 713700 | 17 & 19 Oct |
Northampton Filmhouse | Derngate | Northampton NN1 1TU | 01604 624811 | 15,20,21 Oct |
IRELAND: |
Week starting 22nd October
Eden Court | Bishops Rd | Inverness IV3 5SA | 01463 234434 | 22-24, 26-27 Oct |
Cromarty | Links | Cromarty IV11 8YL | 01865 245288 | 22 Oct only |
Week starting 29th October
Robert Burns | Mill Rd | Dumfries DG2 7BE | 01387 264 808 |
1st Nov only |
From 5th November onwards
Farnham Maltings | Bridge Square | Farnam GU9 7QR | 01252 745 444 | 16th Nov only |
Arc Stockton Arts Centre | Dovecot St | Stockton on Tees TS18 1LL | 01642 525 199 | 17 & 18 Nov only |
IRELAND: | 7th Nov | |||
Garter Lane Arts Centre | O'Connell St | Waterford |
Both born in Dublin, Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor studied theatre in the late 80s at Dartington College of Arts in the UK. From 1992 to 1999 they devised, directed and performed in several internationally acclaimed theatre shows before shifting their attention towards moving image based work. Between 2000 and 2003 they directed a number of episodic, interactive works for the internet, and large-scale community video projects for galleries.
Between 2003 and 2010, Molloy and Lawlor produced, wrote and directed 10 acclaimed short films including the award winning WHO KILLED BROWN OWL and JOY. All shot on 35mm, the CIVIC LIFE films have screened extensively around the world including screenings at the 33rd Telluride Film Festival, the 36th International Film Festival Rotterdam, the 49th Thessaloniki International Film Festival and IndieLisboa'09.
HELEN, their award-winning debut feature film, premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in June 2008 before screening at over 50 film festivals worldwide. It was released in the UK and Ireland by New Wave Films in May 2009, as well as being released in several other countries. In 2009, HELEN was nominated for an Evening Standard Film award and a Guardian First Film award. Their second feature film, MISTER JOHN, also premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in June 2013 and was released in the UK and Ireland in September 2013.
In 2016, Molloy and Lawlor released their debut documentary, FURTHER BEYOND, to critical acclaim and they are currently working on a follow up documentary, THE FUTURE TENSE.
Molloy and Lawlor live in London with their daughter.
ROSE PLAYS JULIE
Ireland | 2019 | Colour | 2K | 1:2.35 | 100 mins
FURTHER BEYOND
Ireland | 2016 | Colour | HD | 16:9 | 89mins
MISTER JOHN
UK/Ireland/Singapore | 2013 | Colour | 35mm | 1:2.35 | 95mins
UK/Ireland | 2008 | Colour | 35mm | 1:2.35 | 79mins
SHORTS
TIONG BAHRU
Singapore | 2010 | Colour | 35mm | 1:2.35 | 19mins
JOY
UK | 2007 | Colour | 35mm | 1:2.35 | 9mins
DAYDREAM
UK | 2007 | Colour | 35mm | 1:2.35 | 29mins
NOW WE ARE GROWN UP | 11mins 40secs
UK | 2005 | Colour | 35mm | 1:2.35
LEISURE CENTRE
UK/IRL | 2005 | Colour | 35mm | 1:2.35 | 17mins 40secs
TOWN HALL
UK | 2005 | Colour | 35mm | 1:2.35 | 10mins 35secs
TWILIGHT
UK | 2005 | Colour | 35mm | 1:2.35 | 5mins 20secs
REVOLUTION
UK | 2004 | Colour | 35mm | 1:2.35 | 9mins 53secs
MOORE STREET
IRL | 2004 | Swahili/English | Colour | 35mm | 1:2.35 | 5mins 45secs
WHO KILLED BROWN OWL
UK | 2004 | Colour | 35mm | 1:2.35 | 9mins 23secs
CAST | |
Rose | Ann Skelly |
Ellen | Orla Brady |
Peter | Aidan Gillen |
Molly | Annabell Rickerby |
Teresa | Catherine Walker |
Valerie | Joanne Crawford |
Dr Langan | Alan Howley |
Eva | Sadie Soverall |
Young Man | Jack McEvoy |
Young Woman | Hannah Behan |
Archaeologist | Esosa Ighodaro |
Oldest Child | Molly Rose Lawlor |
Farm Hand | Lochlann Ó Mearáin |
Vampire Girl | Lily Brand |
CREW | |
Directors | Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor |
Writers | Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor |
Producers | David Collins And Joe Lawlor |
Co-Producer | Eoin O'Faolain |
Executive Producer | Celine Haddad |
Director of Photography | Tom Comerford |
Production Designer | Emma Lowney |
Editor | Christine Molloy |
Composer | Stephen Mckeon |
Line Producer | Cathleen Dore |
Costume Designer | Joan O'Clery |
Casting Director | Emma Gunnery |
Production Executive | Claire McCabe |
Production Co-ordinator | Dawn MacAllister |
Production Companies | Samson Films, Desperate Optimists Productions |
Funding | Developed with the assistance of |
Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland | |
and with the participation of | |
the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and RTÉ | |
101 mins / Ireland 2019 | BBFC Cert 15 / IFCO 15A |
1:2.35 / 5.1 | HoH subtitles available on the DCP |
★★★★
"This deceptively slick psychological drama...
"Feels likes a ghostly horror-tinged companion piece to 2008's brilliant 'Helen.'
'There's a strong element of Greek tragedy underpinning Rose Plays Julie...the domestic monsters of this story may have a #MeToo era edge, but the underlying themes of what the film makers call "identity under duress" are ancient and timeless."
Mark Kermode, THE OBSERVER
★★★★
"Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor are two of the most consistenly interesting film-makers working today. Their new project is their best film yet. So a thriller? Absolutely - taut and gripping, wiht shades of the great Claude Chabrol. But a morality tale too."
Danny Leigh, THE FINANCIAL TIMES
★★★★
“This uncanny and transgressive film about a young woman who tracks down her birth parents is Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor’s best work yet...grabs you by the throat...an edge-of-the-seat thriller. It is a really powerful film and Brady's final dialogue scene exerts a lethal grip."
Peter Bradshaw, THE GUARDIAN
★★★★
"The delicious slow-build tension from the co-directors Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor is created via dark themes (Rose is studying "euthanasia on healthy animals"), heavy interior shadows, sinister tracking shots, choral music and ominous orchestral brass (hints of Stanley Kubrick)."
Kevin Maher, THE TIMES
★★★★★
“A knockout film...Its emotional dilemmas, depictions of trauma, revenge and fractured family ties are handled with such skill and sense of purpose, it is truly exemplary film-making.”
Martyn Conterio, CINEVUE
"An extraordinary ethical thriller...One of the richest, weirdest, most provocative films I've seen in a long time...Unmissable."
David Jenkins, LITTLE WHITE LIES
★★★★
"In Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor's third feature, revenge is served very cold...Rose (Ann Skelly; The Nevers) is adopted. There's a frozen, almost trance-like quality to Rose's affect as she sets out to find her biological parents...Her biological mother, Ellen (a wonderful Orla Brady; A Girl from Mogadishu; Collateral) wants no contat with this daughter...
Markie, Robson- Scott, THE ARTS DESK
"Desperate Optimists’ potent new film poses ethical dilemmas and undercuts Eurowestern narrative traditions with every twist of the plot and shift in tone...A mythic thriller."
So Mayer, SIGHT & SOUND
★★★★
"Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor, aka Desperate Optimists (Helen, Mister John), are masters at generating unease and do so in spades with their latest psycho-thriller, a formally austere suspenser with a foreboding Stephen McKeon score."
Neil Smith, EMPIRE
"It's many moments of quiet and silence also lend any words spoken even more weight while lingering shots set alongside a twinkling Exorcist-style soundtrack with the occasional operatic trill leave you constantly on edge.
Leonie Cooper, NME
"The most disturbing thing about the impresively distrubing Rose Plays Julie may just be how satisfying it is."
Jessica Kiang, VARIETY
"A deeply aware film, Rose Plays Julie allows for the fantastic as a means and space of catharsis."
Sarah-Tai Black, LA TIMES
★★★★
"This is hypnotic, thrilling, deeply confident filmmaking."
Jamie Dunn, THE SKINNY
"The tale...taps into primal urges - for love, revenge, knowledge - and these urges give Rose Plays Julie a mythic quality, like a story told since antiquity, or a fable designed to express truths about the human condition. Very controlled in its style: this control reaps huge rewards."
Sheila O'Malley, ROGER.EBERT.COM
"Rose Plays Julie is an emotionally cathartic thriller...It's subtle until it's not, and then it grabs you. I enjoyed it very much."
Lorry Kikta, FILM THREAT
"Film of the Week (63rd BFI LFF) "A powerful new Irish Film. Ann Skelly is magnificently perplexing as Rose/Julie."
Jonathan Romney, FILM COMMENT
“One of the best screen depictions of the internal struggle of being adopted, perfectly realising a character's permanent sense of existential displacement... I was absolutely floored by this film."
Alistair Ryder, FILM INQUIRY
“Layering its story of an adopted Irish girl who tracks down her birth mother with immersive visual and aural motifs, it plays more like modern operatic tragedy...Stark, meditative and bracingly uncompromising”
Nikki Baughan, SCREEN INTERNATIONAL
Download 8 photos (tiff)
Download 8 photos (jpg)
Download quad poster hi res jpg
Poster image square for Instagram/Twitter
Poster image 16/9 for Twitter
Interview in The Irish Post
Trailer on YouTube - link or embed
Trailer on Vimeo - download or embed
Trailer as Pro Res file - download
Square teasers for Instagram
Clips - Rose Follows Ellen on YouTube
Orla Brady interviewed in The Irish Times
Ann Skelly interviewed in Dazed (spoilers)
Video interview with Aidan Gillen