In Three Keenings, Oliver McGoldrick delivers a debut short film of rare poetic power a haunting meditation on grief, performance, and the rituals we leave behind. With an eye trained as much on cultural memory as on cinematic form, McGoldrick crafts a work that is at once elegiac and strikingly contemporary.
Set against the misty, melancholic backdrop of rural Northern Ireland, the film follows a struggling actor who takes on an unusual role: a professional mourner, performing grief for families of the recently deceased. It’s a premise that feels almost surreal at first, a dark satire of modern emotional detachment but McGoldrick quickly reveals deeper emotional terrain. What begins as a performance becomes a personal reckoning, as the actor’s emotional boundaries begin to crumble, and the pain he fakes begins to resonate too closely.
The film is inspired by the nearly extinct Gaelic-Celtic tradition of keening; a vocal lament offered by non-relatives to honour the dead. Three Keenings doesn’t just reference this tradition; it resurrects it with startling clarity. Through beautifully restrained performances and immaculate, atmospheric cinematography by Gianna Badiali, the film blurs the lines between authenticity and artifice, between communal expression and personal denial.
Seamus O’Hara, recently seen in the Oscar-winning An Irish Goodbye, brings heartbreaking nuance to the central role. His character’s journey is internal, quiet, but deeply affecting. Supporting performances from Northern Irish legends like Carol Moore, Olivia Nash, and Sean Kearns help root the film in both emotional truth and cultural specificity.
With Venice and Palm Springs already behind it, and now qualified for Oscar® consideration after winning Best Short Drama at Galway Film Fleadh, Three Keenings stands as a defining short of the year. It’s a rare work that finds profound emotional depth within cultural specificity, reminding us that in our rituals (even the forgotten ones) we can find collective healing.
“A hypnotic and soul-stirring masterwork. Oliver McGoldrick emerges as a major new voice in cinema.”
★★★★★
Maeve Connolly
