• Twice Shy

    The pressure on so-called ‘issue’ films to ‘start a conversation’, as the journo cliche goes, or, at least, to contribute to existing dialogue, can feel like an unfair burden. Good films are more nuanced than the message we would like to hear from them, and it’s hard to predict what kind of reactions they might provoke from wider audiences. Also, more crucially, meaningful conversations are just plain difficult things to have. To its credit, Irish indie Twice Shy, the second feature from Tipperary-born Tom Ryan, acknowledges this difficulty, and places the troubles of its characters ahead of its eye-catching subject…