Writer-director team Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor put a new twist on the rape-revenge fantasy, pivoting away from the usual hot-bloodedness of the subgenre and the gory justice that often ensues. Instead, Rose Plays Julie follows in the Irish tradition of dreary realism; it’s a brooding, emotionally-charged, bluntly and quietly brutal affair. You probably will want a hot steamy shower once it’s all over. 

Led by a trifecta of powerful performances, the film from Molloy and Lawlor follows Rose, a veterinary student who has just learned she was adopted. As Rose seeks to kindle a relationship with her biological parents, dark secrets come to light which redefine Rose’s self-worth and self-image.

Though sensitive and emotional, Rose Plays Julie sees Molloy and Lawlor nonetheless smuggle in a lingering sense of dread that pervades the fabric of the film. In part a three-pronged character study that digs into the hearts and minds of its trio of characters, the film is also designed to unsettle. To beg questions about hereditary traits and parentage that are, frankly, uncomfortable. If it seems like I’m dancing around the basic plot details, it’s because I am: Rose Plays Julie takes some truly unsuspected turns that I would hate to spoil. 

Accented by omnipresent foreboding elements, such as Stephen McKeon’s score, a chorus of daunting female howls and xylophone pings, or Tom Comerford’s dreary cinematography, Rose Plays Julie leaves audiences suspecting something sinister in every surreptitious exchange. As tensions mount and things take a sinister turn, it can be hard not to look away though Molloy and Lawlor earn both audience’s empathy and attention so as to keep them watching. 

As Rose, Ann Skelly gives a quietly devastating performance as a young woman struggling with her identity, wondering at how justice can be served. Ciphering between her true self and her performance as alter ego “Julie”, a personality adopted in order to slip under the radar of her new folks, Skelly manages to dredge out the awful discomfort of Rose’s situation and sit with it. Orla Brady and Aidan Gillen offer equally strong performances as Rose’s birth parents, twisted and broken though they may be, they are well-drawn and compelling in their own right. 

Anyone looking for something upbeat and fun, need not apply. Rose Plays Julie is not that. The film may be horrifying but it’s certainly not horror. Instead the thriller-esque backdrop feeds into Molloy and Lawlor’s discomforting examination of rape and the brutal consequences that follow. As Rose Plays Julie explores ideas of forgiveness and growth, it comes to an inevitably dark conclusion, offset by just the slightest glimmer of hope and reconciliation. 

CONCLUSION: A dark and dramatic glimpse of a family torn apart by sexual assault, ‘Rose Plays Julie’ is a blunt and uncomfortable character study that features strong performances from Ann Skelly, Orla Brady and Aidan Gillen.

B-

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