An engaging minor-key drama about a stopgap family solution and its lingering impact on the two people thrown together, “You're Ugly Too” marks a modest but well-observed debut for Mark Noonan. Shot in the lonely Irish midlands where the writer-director grew up and infused with an evocative sense of place, the film showcases lovely, unforced performances from Aidan Gillenand Lauren Kinsella as an uncle and his orphaned niece who start out as strangers but form a connection probably destined to endure.

Film Awards

“You’re Ugly Too” has obtained the finalist of “Berlin International Film Festival - Generation Kplus Section”, “Athens International Film Festival - Competition Feature Film Awards and Best Screenplay”, and “Galway Film Fleadh - Best Irish Feature Film”.

Director’s Statement

I was interested in making a film about characters who keep their thoughts and emotions close to their chests. The two main characters are thrown together and forced to become a make-shift family. They aren’t always comfortable expressing themselves. They share this typically Irish trait of refusing to talk about their emotions, choosing instead to use humour and flippant put-downs as a means of expression. Their words don’t always tell the entire story. So many films are defined by what their characters do, and the 180 degree transformations the characters undergo. My intention was to make a film more defined by what the characters don’t do, and whose transformations at the end are small but profound. We sense the change in these two characters as we cut to black, even if perhaps they can’t admit it to themselves.

The Irish Midlands

The film was shot in the midlands of Ireland, which is where the director grew up and where his first obsessions, influences and interests were created. The beautiful, flat plains of the midlands help convey the simultaneous senses of sorrow and hope that envelop this distinctive region.

Synopsis

Will is released from prison on compassionate leave to care for his niece Stacey after the death of her mother. As they both head into the sleepy Irish midlands and attempt to be a family, they suffer a series of setbacks; Stacey is refused admission to the local school because of her recently developed Narcolepsy; Will repeatedly come close to breaking his prison-ordered curfew; and his attempts at being a father figure to her prove disastrous… As their future hangs in the balance they must search for a new way forward together.

You’re Ugly Too

Director & Screenplay: Mark Noonan

Principle Cast: Will Aidan Gillen, Stacey Lauren Kinsella, Tibor George Pistereanu, Emilie Erika Sainte

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Time Running: 81 mins

Category: IIA

Music: David Geraghty

Language: English (Chinese Subtitled)