Jeri Jacquin

Coming to loaded DVD and digital from director Abner Pastoll and Film Movement is a suspense thriller when A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND.

Sarah (Sarah Bolger) is struggling to raise her two young children Ben (Rudy Doherty) and Lucy (Macie McCauley) after the sudden death of her husband in Northern Ireland. Daily she is looking for answers as to who is responsible especially when her young son might have seen something. Coming home with the children and opening the front door, drug dealer Tito (Andrew Simpson) barges in.

Running from a men who represent a drug lord Leo Miller (Edward Hogg), he finds a hiding place after stealing their drugs. He calmly threatens Sarah with a place to stay in exchange for money that he realizes she needs. Never knowing when Tito is going to show up, son Ben finds the stash and Sarah is in for the scare of her life.

Determined to find a way to make Tito go away, she will do anything to protect the children from him. She also realizes that Tito might be able to tell her something about the death of her husband. When Tito is no longer an issue, Miller finds out who was responsible for his stolen drugs.

While Sarah and the kids are shopping, Miller makes his presence known which sends Ben running! She knows it is time to take the kids to her mother’s house until everything is ironed out. Confronting Miller is about to put Sarah in a situation where she has no choice but to take matters into her own hands.

Sarah is a good woman pushed to far!

Bolger as Sarah is a woman doing what most mothers would – make sure no one invades their home especially when children are involved. After losing her husband under mysterious circumstances, her life is flipped once again when drug dealers put her family’s life in jeopardy. It is easy to follow Bolger in this role because she has set herself up as a force to be reckoned with, especially lately in her roles as Into the Badlands and currently as lawyer Emily Thomas, wife of the leader of a cartel. She is strong even when she’s not and dedicated whether in good or bad. Well done!

Simpson as Tito has put himself in a dangerous situation but does not seem to mind it and when taking Sarah and her children under emotional hostage, he cares even less. Convincing himself that she “needs the money” is one way of clearing his conscious of what he is doing to a family. Doherty and McCauley as Ben and Lucy are caught in the middle of things no child should ever have to deal with. These two small actors are convincing in the terror and that makes for the intensity the story has.

Hogg as Miller is a man who is not about to let anyone get in his way, man or woman. Being the head drug dealer means there is no fear, surrounded by people who will do just about anything you ask for money and do not share the same values for life. That’s a difficult role to play but Hogg does so with the right amount of justifiable fear, and he gets my vote for scary.

Other cast include Packy Lee as Mackers, Nigel O’Neil as PC Huxley, Sean Sloan as Jean, Jo Donelly as Betty, Jane Brennas as Alice, Josh Bolt as Donal, Caolan Byrne as Terry,Mary Linsday as Mandy, Susan Ateh as Emily, Siobhan Kelly as Dr. Brady, and James McCaffrey as Conor.

Film Movement, founded in 2002, is an award-winning independent and foreign film company that has released more than 250 feature films and shorts. Theatrical releases include American independent films, documentaries, and foreign arthouse titles catalog such directors as Hirokazu Kore-eda, Maren Ade, Jessica Hausner and Ciro Guerra and Melanie Laurent. Bluray and DVD films bring such directors as Eric Rohmer, Bolle August, King Hu, Sergio Corbucci and Luchino Visconti and many more. To discover what Film Movement is all about and find out more about what they have to offer please visit www.filmmovementplus.com.

The DVD includes the Bonus Features of Audio Commentary by director Abner Pastoll, Deleted Scenes, Alternate Opening, Outtakes, Making of Featurette and Behind-the-Scenes Footage.

A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND is an intense and ugly ride into a world that most people try to avoid. Sarah tried to avoid it as well caring for her two young children as a single mother. Of course, she wanted to know what really happened to her husband, especially when young son Ben clams up, but when Tito enters their life, it is a case of be careful what you ask for.

There is not a lot of external madness as the story focuses on Sarah as the film starts in a very bloody place. Taking us back to the beginning, we see how and why she came to be in that place and constantly questions the viewer with ‘what would you do?’.

Bolger is all in from the get-go and I truly enjoyed her performance. This is a crime thriller to be sure and there is no doubt of that from start to finish but underneath is a story of a woman trying to find answers so that the family she is left to raise on her own can go forward. It does not matter if the answers are ugly, as long as they are the truth. I think Bolger’s portrayal of Sarah gives us that.

In the end – she takes one final act of vengeance!

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