Metal Heart

Emma (Jordanne Jones) and Chantal (Leah MacNamara) are fraternal twin sisters living in a posh Dublin suburb and they couldn't be more different. Emma is an introverted goth with a pie chart deciding how metal her new band will be and Chantal is a wannabe social media influencer who loves being the centre of attention. All the have in common is their choice of untoasted snack. They have the house to themselves for their final summer before college and adult life and Chantal wants to make the most of it but Emma is a thorn in her side. A mix of innocent boys, predatory men, music and spidery ice cream turns their last summer at home into a memorable one.

Familial strife, the trouble that comes with being an outsider who people don't understand, the lack of parental supervision, idiot boyfriends, it's a mix we've seen many times before on screen. A touch of John Hughes, a smidge of 10 Things I Hate About You, a dash of American Pie smuttiness, a whiff of Say Anything. Mix it all up, add in someone calling a love rival "El Cunto" and you get Metal Heart. It's all fierce familiar and all the tropes of American teen films are present and correct but few of them are as full of heart as this one. A pair of central performances from Jones & MacNamara give you people to latch onto and care about and as the film progresses you'll find your allegiances to each waxing and waning as things start to change.

At first most people will relate to a certain sister (no spoilers) but things happen, cars crash, old women get sick and hidden depths start to appear and Jones & MacNamara sell their changing roles perfectly. Shallow people turn out to be deeper than first thought and the seemingly deep turn out to be scum. Moe Dunford as a well meaning neighbour rapidly turns into someone you'd happily watch take a beating. He'll make your skin itch as his interactions with the budding musician Emma show us the sleazy side of South Dublin life. He's an effortless actor, one who never seems to be trying and I can't wait for the day Hollywood starts taking notice of him.

The goodness extends to the supporting cast too. They get plenty of entertaining and memorable little moments (Chess club hissing) and most get their time to shine but Aaron Hefferman is especially memorable in the role of the brainless beefcake Alan, the part time boyfriend of Chantal. Everytime he opens his mouth is a guaranteed laugh be it his glee at the name of his cleaning company or his attempt to get his mouth around a medical term. In a nice touch he even gets to display a touch of depth too. In any other movie he'd be a one dimensional tool but not here. By giving even the smallest character a bit of time writer Paul Murray and director Hugh O'Conor (who gets a split second cameo as a recruiter cowed by the newly confident Emma) ensure the little universe of Metal Heart feels nicely lived in.

It's a rare film where you want it to be longer. Metal Heart is under 90 minutes and while brevity is always welcome it does mean that some things get short shrift. One storyline involving a friend of Emma's gets tied up offscreen and it just feels too neat and tidy. Other things get wrapped up in too simple a manner and it takes from the ending a little bit but to be honest you'll probably be smiling too much to care. It's a fun watch that's free (mostly) of the darkness and pretension that can sometimes plague Irish cinema.

Metal Heart (or desecrated viscera, you'll understand if you watch the movie) is well worth going to the cinema for. It's fresh faced cast is one I can't wait to see more of in the coming years. It's also Hugh O'Conor's directorial debut and based on it I'm looking forward to seeing what he does next. And as always it feels great to support Irish cinema. We should all be doing that more often.