One of the best Irish thrillers of recent years is now streaming for free

The film stars Irish actors from Kin, Love/Hate and Say Nothing.

Accessible through the RTÉ Player, the movie is Birthistle's feature directorial debut. Its story follows Kathleen (Hazel Doupe, Say Nothing), an 18-year-old fresh out of foster care who returns to her hometown to take ownership of her deceased mother's house.

Unsatisfied with her life and lonely, she forms a connection with her next-door neighbour, Dee (Clare Dunne, Kin), a wife and mother also grieving the loss of a loved one.

While the two's relationship at first seems beneficial for both, it isn't long before one of them forms an unhealthy attachment to the other.

Watch the trailer for Kathleen Is Here below:

Co-starring Peter Coonan (Love/Hate) as Dee's husband, Kathleen Is Here begins as a social realist drama, showcasing the struggles young people can face coming out of care.

As the film goes on, though, it gradually evolves into an extremely tense thriller, which is all the more effective because you believe in the people at the centre of the story.

Its third act is so nail-biting, in fact, that the movie has earned comparisons to classic '80s and '90s character-focused thrillers like Fatal Attraction, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle and Single White Female.

JOE had the pleasure of speaking to both Birthistle and Doupe ahead of Kathleen Is Here's release in cinemas, and during our conversation, we brought up those comparisons.

In particular, we asked the writer-director whether she was looking to those types of movies for inspiration.

Birthistle said in response: "Well, I think I was thinking of them. But I was thinking of them more so in how I didn't want to portray Kathleen because I didn't want to demonise her. I didn't want to make her into a villain.

"It starts off as a drama very purposely for that reason. I wanted to make sure that the audience understood why she made the decisions that she did. Even if they didn't agree with what she was doing, they could sympathise with her, and they could see her making mistakes as she went along.

"The research that we did and the people we were talking to and listening to, the very true stories of people's experiences of coming out of care, it was really important that we weren't standing back in judgement. So hopefully we've achieved that as well.

"But I did also purposely up the ante and heightened it a little bit. Because I felt the stories lent themselves for the film to go in that direction, whilst hopefully still remaining truthful to… the people who've been through an actual experience like this, to their journeys and plights. So, it's just trying to strike that balance really."

Kathleen Is Here is streaming for free on the RTÉ Player now.