Irish writer-director Mark Noonan makes an impressive debut with You’re Ugly Too, a low-key and bittersweet drama about an ex-con who’s released to take care of his orphaned niece.
Noonan wrote the lead role for Aidan Gillen, and the beautifully observed dialogue brings the actor’s charm, comedic skills and palpably empathic presence to the fore. His Will is both loving and careworn; irreverent but genuine; well-intentioned but also self- destructive. Will’s childish sense of play nicely bounces off Stacey’s (Lauren Kinsella) sharp precociousness, and as the odd couple begin to forge a new and unique relationship, Stacey’s guard lifts and responsibility begins to sit easier with Will.
Set in caravan parks and small towns in the Irish midlands, You’re Ugly Too looks beautiful, if slightly contrived. Cinematographer Tom Comerford finds the soulful beauty in twilight, the park’s fairy lights and metaphor-laden landscapes, such as abandoned train-tracks of indeterminate destination. The blend of natural beauty with industrial tableaux echoes the film’s trajectory – while Will and Stacey build a relationship, external forces jeopardise their future together. To prove that he should be Stacey’s primary carer and stay out of prison, Will must find a job, resist his addictive tendencies, and keep Stacey his primary focus, even when he meets a beautiful Belgian woman, Emilie (Erika Sainte).
The film’s exploration of how new families are formed is touching, and Gillen’s understated turn is gorgeous, his rough-edged exterior layered with warmth and romanticism. Though at times sentimental, Noonan also avoids tidy resolutions, knowing that complicated lives and tenuous connections are fuelled by setbacks and difficulties – and thus rendered all the more meaningful.