Orphans – 1999 | 101mins | Drama | Colour

Plot Synopsis

Death. It tears families apart. It brings them together. And with it comes all manner of emotional upheavals and dangerously extreme reactions. Death, the ties of blood, the trauma of parting and the violence of raging loss are all central to Orphans, the directorial debut of My Name is Joe’s bruised star, Peter Mullan. It’s his unflinching, unsentimental take on the subject matter that makes Orphans as lacerating, darkly humorous and brutally honest a film as has been made in these islands for many years.

Shortly after they’ve kissed their mum in her coffin, the four adult Flynn children retire to the local pub in Glasgow. When pious, church-going brother Thomas (Lewis) takes the bandstand to mourn his mother’s parting in tear-filled song, the family’s turmoil is given a public face. Incensed by the reaction of some drinkers to his brother’s admittedly embarrassing distress, Michael (Henshall) rises to defend his honour but is stabbed in the ensuing brawl. Younger brother John (McCole) wants to avenge Michael’s stabbing and wheelchair-bound sister Sheila (Stevenson) is left in Thomas’ unreliable charge.

Mullan guides this family of benighted strays through a long, wild dark night. Each of the four Flynns is richly characterised, while the backdrop – Glasgow’s netherworld laid bare – lends a suitably cruel setting for their cathartic experiences. Thomas takes refuge in a church and John enlists the services of an unhinged cousin to find a gun and seek out Michael’s attackers. Meanwhile, Michael entertains vainglorious ideas of turning his misfortune into ill-gotten lucre and Sheila finds the tender mercies of family of Good Samaritans.

The emotional and visual onslaught comes hard and fast, the laughs in prickly, uneasy and unsettling doses. Orphans is a film with an unforced, gently lyrical touch that never loses sight of its anger or raw energy. British cinema at its heart-pounding, soul scorching best.

Review© Gavin Martin.