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Many-Outside-7594 t1_ja3c07m wrote

The movie isn't about what it's literally about.

It's an allegory for the Irish Civil War broadly, and more about how absurdly these kinds of conflicts start.

It's a heightened reality, just like McDonough other films.

Even allowing for all that, I don't see how the characters are unbelievable.

I've had friends that I eventually realized were holding me back and cut them loose.

It's a bit harder to do on a small secluded island with one pub, so the resentment and anger on both sides just keeps building until it boils over.

That each character's actions and reactions are irrational and emotional is the point.

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blucthulhu t1_ja3o509 wrote

>It's an allegory for the Irish Civil War broadly, and more about how absurdly these kinds of conflicts start.

It's so weird to me that some people don't see this. You'd think the setting and time would make it rather obvious.

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NoHandBananaNo t1_ja5feg6 wrote

And if those didnt, the occasional sound of gunfire from the mainland kind of hammers it home...

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OfferOk8555 t1_ja3ew1q wrote

Really well put. I wouldn’t call the plot “thin”. I think direct is a better word. Utilitarian. Not too many moving parts because they aren’t needed to tell the intended story.

McDonough was a playwright at first and I feel like a lot of his movies operate in this way, with self contained distorted version of the world and human behavior.

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