The Passion tells the story of a young man who accidentally kills the love of his life in a car crash, and seeks resolution and escape with her mother. This psychologically complex yet subtle story brings us into post-recession rural Ireland. A community has turned its back on who they believe is a perpetrator rather than a victim. Steven has done time for the incident, and can’t find a way to reconcile himself to his new life. He turns to his dead girlfriend’s mother for solace, and a strange relationship unfolds.
Best Cinematography – Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival 2021
Director – Mia Mullarkey
Mia Mullarkey is a film director based in Dublin, Ireland. She directed several successful short documentaries, receiving over 60 awards and nominations globally, and screening at international short film festivals such as Palm Springs, Aesthetica, São Paulo, Valladolid, Tehran and Helsinki. In 2018 Mia received the Discovery Award at Dublin International Film Festival for her body of work, and was made the 2018/2019 Filmmaker-in-Residence with Virgin Media DIFF. Under the new Screen Skills Ireland mentorship scheme Mia is currently being mentored by director Lenny Abrahamson for one year. The Passion is Mia’s first short drama.
Director Statement
I was extremely keen to create a drama about the aftermath of trauma. It’s a topic I’m constantly drawn to. This is partly due to having worked as a psychologist before moving into film, but more so it’s because I feel that cinema is hugely powerful at delivering emotional insight. I am a massive Donal Ryan fan (the author of the original story), his distinctly fine touch at bringing the reader into the character’s mind, what they can and can’t see. What strikes me about The Passion is the transgression from grief and guilt to an animal state of longing.