It does work, perhaps because it gives everything, from the symbols to the processing of trauma and grief, such a lot of space to breathe.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 10, 2024

Suspenseful and captivating, its themes and craftsmanship dabble with terrible darkness to deliver compelling visuals and messages.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 15, 2024

...ROSE PLAYS JULIE remains rooted in its characters and premise to deliver an appropriate, perhaps even satisfying, conclusion.

| Nov 30, 2023

Writer-director duo Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy toy with the concepts of memory and reality, identity and façade in this psychological drama, heavy with unease and a sense of dread.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 2, 2022

While the ending feels too neat for a story so tangled, it's the type of tense drama that will have you occupying the edge of your seat for the duration.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 3, 2022

Writer-directors Joe Lawlor and Christine Malloy have crafted a slow-burning thriller that is a triumph of mood-setting, aesthetics and a trio of terrific performances.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 20, 2021

Rose's interactions with Doyle are excruciating, as they're supposed to be, and Gillen is superb as a man who, for all his bluster, may loathe himself as much as the two women do.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 8, 2021

A study of identity, its construction, demolition and reconstruction, Rose Plays Julie zeroes in on perfect casting with the pairing of Ann Skelly and Orla Brady in the central roles.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 8, 2021

Quiet, intense, chilling and thrilling, this is a masterpiece of dread atmospherics.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Oct 7, 2021

The three leads are superb and the sum total is excellent.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 24, 2021

Slow-moving, sombre, alienated and beautiful, its pace is underpinned by Stephen McKeon's ominous score.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 20, 2021

The creative 'volume' has been set high; maybe a tad too high in the end. But, my goodness, it's good...

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 19, 2021

The domestic monsters of this story may have a #MeToo-era contemporary edge, but the underlying themes of what the film-makers call "identity under duress" are ancient and timeless.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 19, 2021

Molloy and Lawlor stage this unusual family reunion with pitch-black comedy and nail-biting suspense.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 18, 2021

Occasionally frustrating, but worth getting frustrated about.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 17, 2021

An arthouse character portrait segues into a moody revenge thriller in this stylish Irish tale about confronting the crimes of the past.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 17, 2021

Both Brady and Skelly are terrific in crafting the symbiotic relationship that gives Rose Plays Julia its deft twist on a mother/daughter love story.

| Sep 16, 2021

The unfolding story kept me intrigued, but this was only partly a result of the movie's intelligent style and Skelly's forceful, detailed performance.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 16, 2021

Rose Plays Julie is impactful and unsettling, heightened by slippery performances and enigmatic visual construction.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 16, 2021

A tense and powerful thriller, fueled by a solid cast and a fierce, yet human performance from Ann Skelly.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 16, 2021