Clare Arts

Kathleen (Hazel Doupe) is 18 and fresh out of foster care. She returns to her hometown to take ownership of her late mother’s house. Though she gets a job in the local shop and establishes a friendship of convenience with a co-worker, she soon realises that the emptiness of her life cannot be filled by social media and occasional boozy nights in the pub. But a chance encounter with Dee (Clare Dunne), a warm-hearted, happily married, young mother across the road, sends Kathleen on a destructive path of obsession and delusion.

In this impressive feature debut, featuring powerfully understated performances from both Doupe and Dunne, writer/director Eva Birthistle delivers a sensitive character study of a wounded young woman in this emphatically riveting tale.

Director Eva Birthistle

Length 1hr 35mins

Reviews

”As a screenwriter, Birthistle imbues both characters with rich emotional detail so that the women’s relationship is far from a one-way street.” – Amber Wilkinson, ScreenDaily

“Kathleen Is Here ranks among the most compelling domestic offerings of 2024, the well-told small story that asks a lot of big questions. Birthistle and Doupe are a formidable duo. They need to work together again as soon as possible”- Harry Guerin, RTÉ