Be warned though, this sadly underseen Western with an Irish twist is not for the faint-hearted.
Prime Video has just added The Nightingale, the 2018 Western thriller movie starring Irish actress Aisling Franciosi (Speak No Evil).
In the film, she delivers a phenomenal performance as a young Irish convict named Clare in 19th-century Australia who relentlessly pursues a British officer (Sam Claflin of Peaky Blinders fame, embodying pure evil) through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness.
This is to seek revenge for the terrible acts he committed against her and her family.
On her journey, Clare enlists the services of an Aboriginal tracker named Billy (Baykali Ganambarr, The Royal Hotel), a man also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.
The much-anticipated follow-up for writer-director Jennifer Kent after her beloved horror debut The Babadook, The Nightingale caused quite a stir upon its release in 2018 due to its numerous scenes of extreme violence. That said, the movie is very much seeking to expose the horrors of colonialism.
What’s most impressive about The Nightingale is that, despite the cruelty it depicts, the film evolves throughout its 135-minute runtime into an incredibly emotional and powerful story about the friendship that develops between the oppressed Billy and Clare.
Holding an 86% Rotten Tomatoes score, you can read some of the rave reviews The Nightingale received upon release right here:
AV Club: “[The] terrific performances keep The Nightingale from ever slipping too far into a vast abyss of hopelessness. Theirs is a nightmare worth enduring.”
Empire: “Not for the faint-hearted – and even the tough-hearted might struggle in a few places – but this uncompromising, unflinching meditation on violence should be seen as widely as possible.”
FilmWeek: “The pleasure of this movie is slowly watching [Aisling Franciosi and Baykali Ganambarr] find their common ground, and Jennifer Kent doesn’t make it easy for either of them in any step of the way.”
Little White Lies: “A fearless, breathtaking masterpiece.”
London Evening Standard: “The most shocking thing about this shocking film? When it was over, I felt like I’d been released from a warm hug.”
San Francisco Chronicle: “Just as she did in The Babadook, Kent maintains tension for so long at a stretch that you do not notice you have forgotten to breathe until it finally eases up.”
How to watch The Nightingale
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The Nightingale is streaming in Ireland and the UK on Prime Video, as well as Mubi and Netflix.
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