Director Nick Rowland
Starring Cosmo Jarvis, Barry Keoghan, Liam Carney
Rated MA
Score 6/6

Douglas ‘Arm’ Armstrong has become the feared enforcer for the drug-dealing Devers family, whilst also trying to be a good father. Torn between these two families, Arm’s loyalties are tested when he is asked to kill for the first time.

For the record this isn’t the first movies that I watched that is featured at the Irish Film Festival, but of what I have seen I was really impressed by Calm With Horses. For those of you who might be interested Calm with Horses was adapted from a short story written by Colin Barrett.
Now before I get to far into things I would like to make one thing perfectly clear this is not the best movie to watch if your having a bad day especially if you are hoping a relaxing movie to make you smile. This is the type of movie that is a slow burn (I have to admit that I did not see the third act coming) and will have you crying or on the verge of tears by the time the credits roll.

I was particularly impressed by Cosmo Jarvis’ performance as ‘Arm’ a sympathetic man who is trying to be the best father he can be even if he doesn’t have all the tools to be able to do his best. I hold Jarvis’ final scenes of this movie in the highest regard. I really do I hope that I get to see him in more movies in the futures. After watching Niamh Algar’s performance I also hope to get the chance to check out more of her work.
If you get a chance to watch Calm with Horses try and watch it on a screen that is bigger then a laptop. Even though it is a good thing that all of these film festivals are suddenly being screened online there are moments that loose their impact in the transition from a big screen to a small screen.