HELL HATH NO FURY // A FILM REVIEW OF "A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND"
Slow burn thrillers can often be the most satisfying ones. They take their time, quietly placing all of the pieces in place, setting up the chess pieces and giving you all the background you'll need, all the while taking its sweet time doing so. Until the final act, where it explodes. Granted, not all slow burns end this way; some slowly burn out satisfyingly instead of exploding and some simply fizzle out. The good news is that Abner Pastoll's new film A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND is an excellent film, a truly satisfying thriller that takes its time and rewards your patience.
Sarah Bolger plays Sarah, a woman in Northern Ireland who's still in a shocked mourning after the murder of her husband, killed in front of her young son. He now is mute, unable to speak from what he saw. The Police have offered no help, instead looking at her as if she's a guilty party. Sexism rings true all around her, from the two shitty officers who call her "that kind of woman" to the gross pervert nuisance at the grocery store that won't leave her alone. Finally, every man around her mansplains everything to her, grinding her to the bone. She tries to simply make it day to day, raising her son and young daughter, with a mother that also looks at her as a disappointment. She simply can't catch a break.
Her luck doesn't improve when Tito, small time drug dealer (Andrew Simpson), breaks into her house to hide; he's just stolen dope from the bigger dealers and decides he's going to stash it there, since no one will guess to look for him there. He doesn't giver her a choice, and treats her like a problem to be solved, barely caring that she has two small children in the other room. His refusal to leave eventually leads the more dangerous gangsters right to her door. Unfortunately for these men, everyone underestimates Sarah. And they really, really shouldn't have.
Director Abner Pastoll's bloody revenge thriller is perfectly paced, adding suspense with intense camera angles, long takes, a strong script by Ronan Blaney and a pulse pounding synth score by Matthew Pusti, slowly taking you through this crime underworld with promises of a satisfying conclusion around the corner. And boy does it deliver. Sarah Bolger is fantastic here. She grows from a grieving widow frantically searching for answers to a woman who's been pushed by one too many men not to fight back. She's sensational here and her co-star Edward Hogg, playing the lead gangster, is perfectly cast. He's cool but not calm and every step he takes is brimming with violence. His line readings slice through your ear, putting the same amount of fear that Sarah has inside of you. The climax is brimming with blood and highly satisfying and Sarah truly proves that underestimating her was the worst thing any of these foolish men could have done.
GRADE: A
WRITTEN BY Ronan Blaney DIRECTED BY Abner Pastoll STARRING Sarah Bolger, Edward Hogg, Andrew Simpson, Jane Brennan, Caolan Byrne, Packy Lee. Now available on Film Movement's Virtual Cinema and other VOD platforms. For more information, visit https://www.filmmovement.com/a-good-woman-is-hard-to-find