Film Review - Wildfire (2020)

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The past casts a long shadow over everybody in Cathy Brady’s feature debut, Wildfire – although some of them aren’t aware of it. Set in her home territory of the Northern Ireland border, it’s a land steeped in life-changing memories, even if they’ve faded from the headlines since the Good Friday Agreement over 20 years ago.

Yet for the post-2000 generation, those memories are irrelevant, creating yet another border. One of the most telling scenes in the film – a teenager cruelly teases a colleague at work because she limps and is crushed to find out the reason why – shows how the past is constantly lurking in the background, ready to raise its head at a moment’s notice. It’s something sisters Lauren (Nora-Jane Noone) and Kelly (Nika McGuigan) have to contend with and can never escape. Kelly suddenly appears at her sister’s house after being missing, presumed dead, and the whole town is talking about it. The older Lauren is full of mixed emotions, but her priority is to look after the unpredictable Kelly, as both struggles to cope with the memories of their late mother, the reasons behind her death, and their need to confront the traumas of their childhood.

To the outside world, Lauren seems to have a settled life – a steady job, nice house, caring husband – and appears to have coped well with the loss of their mother, but Kelly’s return and her volatile nature bring everything simmering beneath the surface right to the fore. The younger sister has never come to terms with their mother’s suicide or the reasons behind it and she lashes out at the slightest provocation, despite a desperate need to make a fresh start and find some stability. As the two grow closer and Lauren feels the pressure of looking after her sister, both find themselves struggling to break free of the problems that beset their mother.

It’s a film that hinges on its two central performances, with both Noone and McGuigan proving to be more than up to the task. McGuigan’s death while the film was in post-production tinges the film with sadness and the inevitable thought of how her career could have developed. On this evidence, she was a real talent to watch out for, portraying Kelly’s erratic mood swings with ease and bursting into full-blown rage in the blink of an eye. Noone is equally impressive, desperately trying to keep control of her bottled-up emotions while trying to cope with a sister whom she both loves and dreads at the same time. It would be all too easy to overlook the ever-reliable Martin McCann as Sean, Lauren’s husband, a role that asks more of him as an actor than simply being supportive. In his way, he’s just as confused by the fallout from Kelly’s return, but is out on a limb as his wife becomes increasingly distant.

With its tension and the occasional unexpected twist, Wildfire makes for an intense watch, one that takes you inside the world of the two sisters where they both feel trapped in their different ways by the past and the present. That all-pervasive atmosphere keeps the story’s weaknesses at bay, especially in the latter third, leaving the impression that Brady is only just getting started.