Glassland, film review: Exceptional performances lift this slow-moving study

(15) Gerard Barrett, 94 mins Starring: Jack Reynor, Toni Colette, Will Poulter, Michael Smiley, Gary Ó'Nualláin, Joe Mullins

Toni Collette and Jack Reynor in ‘Glassland’

Barrett's study of the relationship between an alcoholic mother (Colette) and her devoted taxi-driver son (Reynor) is slow-moving and sometimes very bleak but benefits from two exceptional central performances.

As the young man desperate to save his mother from herself, Reynor is quietly heroic. Barrett includes many shots of him waiting patiently for her drunken rages to abate.

Colette gives a more subtle and complex performance than is found in most portrayals of alcoholics. In spite of the selfishness, mood swings and the contemptuous treatment of her younger son (suffering from Down's syndrome), we are always aware of her suffering and desire to change.