Outcast (2010)

It tells the tale of Petronella (a Scottish/Romany girl) and Fergal (her mysterious Irish traveller boyfriend). As their doomed relationship plays out, a Beast stalks the estate, killing ... See full summary »

Director:

Colm McCarthy

Writers:

Colm McCarthy, Tom K. McCarthy

Stars:

Kate Dickie, Niall Bruton, Hanna Stanbridge

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kate Dickie	...	Mary
Niall Bruton	...	Fergal
Hanna Stanbridge	...	Petronella
Josh Whitelaw	...	Tomatsk
Therese Bradley	...	Jitta
James Nesbitt	...	Cathal
Ciarán McMenamin	...	Liam
Sean McCarthy	...	Old Hands
Fiona O'Shaughnessy	...	Niamh
Christine Tremarco	...	Housing Officer
Karen Gillan	...	Ally
Andrew Martin	...	James
Chelsea M. Matthews	...	Sadie (as Chelsea Matthews)
Daniel Portman	...	Paul (as Daniel Porter)
Wendy Wason	...	Barmaid (as Wendy Wasson)

Storyline

It tells the tale of Petronella (a Scottish/Romany girl) and Fergal (her mysterious Irish traveller boyfriend). As their doomed relationship plays out, a Beast stalks the estate, killing locals, working its way towards our protagonists. Meanwhile Cathal and Liam, two mysterious travellers from Ireland use ritual and magic on a blood hunt. Mary, Fergal's mother performs ritual and magic of her own. As Cathal comes face to face with Mary in a vicious finale we know one thing: the Beast must die.

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Plot Keywords:

male frontal nudity | one word title | ritual | magic | beast | 

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Taglines:

Evil Runs In The Blood

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Genres:

Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong bloody violence and gore, sexuality, graphic nudity and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [UK]

Country:

UK Ireland

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 December 2010 (UK)

Also Known As:

O kataramenos

Filming Locations:

Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bankside Films, Bórd Scannán na hÉireann, Scottish Screen

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The book Mary gives Fergal for his birthday is "Titus Alone", the concluding volume in the 'Gormenghast' trilogy by Mervyn Peake. In the book, Titus, the heir to the castle of Gormenghast, decides voluntarily to cut himself off from his ancestral home and not to claim his heritage; rather like the choice which Mary is expecting Fergal to make in the film.

User Reviews

Brave attempt to do something different - doesn't entirely succeed.

It's difficult to know what movie-goers want sometimes. Do they want the usual product with its anodyne plot line, CGI and names you've heard of? Or do they want something different that might challenge their preconceptions of what a good movie is? Do they want to praise a film for trying to be a bit different even if not perfect or do they look for signs of weakness in anything they see, delighting in the opportunity to trash something?

Outcast has a lot of faults. The creature effects are a bit wobbly, it's slow in places and could do with tightening up, some of the acting is mediocre. And yet this does try to be different. It's horror mixed with social realism as some have already pointed out. It's visually striking and well photographed although shaky cam sometimes gets the better of it. Some of the acting is very good indeed – I was particularly impressed by the ferocity of both Kate Dickie and James Nesbitt and kudos to him for appearing in this low budget film yet not holding anything back.

The story will make you work and it will help if you have some concept of how myths and legends operate (and who doesn't, it's in our psyche). There is a resolution which makes perfect sense in the context of the story. It's not a fun movie and probably not a date movie! Outcast is a brave attempt to make something different. It has lots of faults but they are ones I am happy to forgive because of the efforts and obvious good intentions of all involved in making it.