Christy is a touching feature debut from Brendan Canty with a lot of heart. Based on Canty’s 2019 short film of the same name, the film is an Irish drama that follows Christy (Danny Power), who is kicked out of his latest foster home and moves in with his brother Shane (Diarmuid Noyes) and his partner Stacey (Emma Willis).
Before the film begins, Canty comes on-screen for an introduction where he talks about making this film, discussing how the input he got from those who experienced being in foster care influenced his film. Canty’s care for sticking true to those experiences shines through. Yes, a home is where we live, but it’s those people within that community that truly make it special; that’s the substance.
What really struck me in this film was the sense of Christy being especially isolated, in a no-man’s-land, a tragic atmosphere. Even when he was in that foster home, he never really felt at home.
Once we see Christy move in with his brother, we see him start to form those friendships and relationships. You see that spark in him.
Christy forms a friendship with Pauline (Helen Behan), a friend of his mom, and gives him a job at her hairdresser’s. Christy’s internal barriers go away, and he starts to think he has finally found his place.
Everything comes full circle when Shane finds Christy, who didn’t show up to their get-together bonfire night, with his new group of friends. Shane doesn’t go over, but you can see on his face how happy he is for his brother. He doesn’t need to say anything.
The conflict between the brothers is resolved very conveniently, despite Shane, along with social workers, wanting to put Christy into a residential home. The brothers confront each other over this, but it’s over so swiftly that you don’t really feel they have actually unpacked anything.
I found myself very impressed by Power’s performance, especially the physicality of it, as he profoundly captures Christy’s frequent panic attacks. These moments are difficult to watch, especially because of how transformative it is to see Christy go back to being that young boy who just wants stability to ground him.
Noyes, as Shane, successfully portrays someone who had to do so much growing up that he stunted showing vulnerability. Willis, meanwhile, has a lovely sequence as Stacey where she sees that Christy is having one of his attacks, and she just says, “I’m here.” It’s great how she lets both brothers understand that vulnerability is okay, as that’s what real community entails.
Christy is a confident directorial debut from Canty, which highlights the importance of how one finds community, in turn, finds freedom to find themselves.
Review Courtesy of Matthew Allan
Feature Image Credit to Altitude Film Distribution via Variety