Enya Martin (
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Cathal Nally, ‘
Be Good or Be Gone‘ is set over the course of four days in contemporary Dublin, Ireland. The story follows Ste and Weed, two petty criminal cousins, who receive a temporary release from prison. Both lads have big plans for the future. Ste wants to make a better life for himself, his long-term partner Dee and six-year-old daughter Ellie Mae. Weed’s ambition is to conquer the world of high fashion, thus becoming the new Galliano but a nasty substance addiction needs conquering first. Ste refuses to be moved when gang boss Braler tries to intimidate him into a heinous act of violence. Weed convinces a reluctant Ste to take part in an armed robbery which goes badly wrong, resulting in a shopkeeper being brought to death’s door.
Updated / Friday, 26 Feb 2021
11:44
Cathal Nally: Thankfully I don t suffer from depression . .but I know those that do, so I call or text them from time to time. I ve been very lucky with the lockdowns , says film director Cathal Nally, whose film Be Good or Be Gone screens at this year s Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival. I ve spent each one in a different place both physically and mentally. Lockdown One’ (the first is always the best) I spent in Ashbourne with my brother. The theory was if one of us became ill the other could look after them. At least that was our view on things at the time. Nobody knew what to expect when the pandemic first hit our shores.
World-weary stand-up comedian Kate McLoughlin wants out. Her morbid prayers are answered in the form of a cancer diagnosis. For Kate, this is the perfect excuse. However, a last supper of dodgy shellfish and champagne puts paid to her overdose attempt and to placate her family she begrudgingly agrees to undergo treatment.
Armed with staggering levels of cynicism and a plethora of blackly comic jokes, Kate gets off to a bad start with the four other women she encounters on the chemo ward, whose unsolictited friendships are destined to blow open her shut-down heart.
CAST: Gemma-Leah Devereux, Siobhan Cullen, Karen Egan, Barbara Brennan, Derbhle Crotty, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor