The psychological thriller has earned very good reviews.
It has been much discussed of late how great the year 2022 was for Irish cinema. Yet, amongst all the acclaim and Oscar nominations for An CailÃn Ciúin and The Banshees of Inisherin, movie fans may have missed another strong Irish film when it arrived in cinemas last December.
Titled Nocebo, the psychological thriller centres around Christine (Eva Green, Casino Royale), an English fashion designer who finds herself struck down with a mysterious illness that confounds her doctors and frustrates her husband, Felix (Mark Strong, Kingsman).
One of the symptoms of the illness is forgetfulness. So, when a Filipina woman named Diana (Chai Fonacier), who Christine does not recognise, shows up on her doorstep claiming to be a caregiver the fashion designer hired, Christine thinks it is her own mistake.
However, as the cheery Diana moves in with the married couple to take care of Christine, the question is: Does the caregiver have sinister ulterior motives?
Chai Fonacier in Nocebo
Produced by Screen Ireland and made by Irish director and writer duo Lorcan Finnegan and Garret Shanley (Vivarium), Nocebo is a tense and twisty thriller with big ideas on its mind, with the movie’s story touching upon economic inequality, globalisation and how western corporations exploit the east.
The film’s ambitious storytelling, along with Finnegan’s ability to craft a strange off-kilter atmosphere and Fonacier’s deliciously unsettling performance, led to Nocebo receiving strong reviews – earning a 70% Rotten Tomatoes score.
You can see a sample of the film’s glowing write-ups below.
The Guardian: “Director Lorcan Finnegan, working with a script by Garret Shanley, creates some unsettling moments and there are sharp prickles of commentary about our attitude to fast fashion and the workers who make our clothes.”
Metro: “Actress Eva Green is always a good indicator you’re in for something stylishly weird.”
SciFiNow: “Finnegan is building a considerable CV as an Irish genre auteur.”
Variety: “Finnegan juggles the script’s disparate elements with some aplomb, making for a sleek whole that’s entertaining if not particularly depthed or plausible.”
Nocebo is now available to watch on Netflix in the UK and Ireland. You can check out its trailer below.
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