Jonjo O’Neill – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

MOVIE OF THE WEEK February 11, 2022: HERE BEFORE

February 5, 2022August 19, 2023 Jennifer Merin Andrea Riseborough, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, here before, irish films, jennifer merin, Jonjo O'Neill, leslie combemale, Lewis McAskie, liz whittemore, Marilyn Ferdinand., motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, Niamh Dornan, Pam Grady, sandie angulo chen, stacey gregg, susan wloszczyna

Is it really possible for those we’ve loved and lost to return to us? That’s the question that grieving mother Laura (Andrea Riseborough) finds herself obsessed with in Irish filmmaker Stacey Gregg’s moody and compelling drama/thriller Here Before. Still mourning the tragic loss of her daughter, Josie, years before, Laura finds herself drawn to young Megan (Niamh Dornan) when the girl’s family moves in next door. Could Megan be more than she seems? The film seems determined to show that love, loss, and other big feelings are part of the everyday experience, for better or worse.

Reviews

HERE BEFORE – Review by Susan Wloszcyna

January 31, 2022February 5, 2022 Susan Wloszczyna Andrea Riseborough, here before, irish films, Jonjo O'Neill, Lewis McAskie, motw, Movie of the Week, Niamh Dornan, stacey gregg

A haunting atmosphere engulfed with a sense of grief is everything in Irish writer-director Stacey Gregg’s unsettling thriller Here Before. Set in a damp and chilly suburb of Belfast, the story begins when a new family moves next door to Laura (Andrea Riseborough), a distraught mother who lost her daughter Josie in a car accident several years before when her husband was behind the wheel. The new neighbors’ daughter, Megan, resembles Laura’s deceased daughter.