Dublin teenagers Matthew, nihilistic Rez, and the deranged Kearney, leave school to a social vacuum of drinking and drugs, falling into shocking acts of transgression.
Coming from Dublin, Ireland myself, I’ve noticed over the years that a lot of filmmakers who incorporate Dublin into their movies, tend to show a plethora of landmarks around the city to constantly remind the audience where the story is unfolding. Writer-director Eoin Macken successfully avoids these tropes and while he comprises an occasional aerial shot of the city along with an accompanying landmark, he concentrates more on the characters and their narratives, instead of visual aesthetics. Because of this, “Here Are the Young Men” succeeds in telling the often disturbing tale of three best friends who are just starting adulthood and who are trying to determine how the rest of their lives will unfold.
Matthew (Dean-Charles Chapman), Rez (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), and Kearney (Finn Cole) are three best friends who live in Dublin, Ireland, and who have just graduated high school. Oblivious as to what they want to do with the rest of their lives, they spend day after day in a drug-fueled haze, committing petty crimes and playing video games. One afternoon, the trio is out for a walk when they witness a young girl’s death in a freak car accident. Initially shocked, the realization of the girl’s demise slowly takes its toll on them, with each man processing the tragedy differently.
Rez feels unsympathetic about the girl’s death, and it distresses him that he has no feelings or remorse about her passing and he assumes nobody else cares about him so he tries to commit suicide. Matthew can’t get the image of the little girl lying dead on the road, covered in blood, out of his head and tries to find solace in his friend Jen (Anya Taylor-Joy). Kearney, on the other hand, is devoid of any feelings whatsoever, in fact, he finds the whole ordeal thrilling and takes it with him to America for a few months working with his brother where he date rapes an inebriated woman and kills a homeless man, all while recording it on video.
When he returns to Dublin, he is euphoric and has Matthew accompany him into town, where he gives a homeless man a small packet of drugs, later telling Matthew it was actually rat poison and that he is now an accomplice to murder. He freaks out and Kearney tells him he was joking and that it was only sugar, but Matthew can’t shake the feeling that he is lying. When the three friends and Jen attend a party and each one of them gets wasted, Kearney tries to rape Jen but she manages to break free and tells Matthew about it the next day. Convinced Kearney is a psychopath, the four friends get ready to attend another party but this time, Matthew has a plan, one that will shake the foundation of his and Kearney’s friendship for the rest of their lives.
“Here Are the Young Men” details the lives of the three central protagonists, along with their hopes and aspirations for the future, but also their current mindset. Kearney, from his initial entrance into the film, is a deranged teen, with an affinity for violence and sexual depravity and actor Finn Cole imbues him with a charismatic but unstable personality, not an easy feat but he does a tremendous job breathing life into an undesirable and troublesome character. The rest of the cast are good in their respective roles, with American actress Anya Taylor-Joy delivering an impassioned performance but also an authentic Dublin accent. Bravo! Having graduated from school in Dublin back in the ’80s, it’s interesting to see much of what my friends and I grappled with back then is still consistent in the Dublin of today.
Available on Blu-ray™ and DVD June 29th
