SANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2025 REVIEW! Three masked older women rob a credit union in a village in Ireland. Everything seems to go haywire as their plan devolves, hostages start to recognize them, other people escape with the money, and they are busted. That is the beginning of Aontas, written by director Damian McCann and Sarah Gordon, but then the film goes back in time, scene by scene, to reveal how the characters got into this desperate situation. Each scene goes a bit further back until near the end, where the robbery plays out again, more fully, and now in a much more revelatory way.
“Three masked older women rob a credit union in a village in Ireland.”
Aontas is a rare gem — a thriller that leaves you on the edge of your seat as the revelations spool out, but also a masterwork of film construction and craft. Films that play in reverse chronological order, like Memento or Irreversible, are few and far between because they are astoundingly tricky to do well. You have to make the film start with what would be the climax but then construct it so that the plot arc goes both forward and backward and ends with an emotional high point or some kind of revelation. Meanwhile, the audience has to keep all of these events in their head and try to remember the beginning of the film, which is difficult because when you see it, you don’t know the characters.
McCann has not just managed to pull this off but also made a thoroughly gripping and exceptional film and effectively did it with one hand tied behind his back. This is an Irish-language film subtitled in English. That means the audience, budget, and pool of actors to draw from are extraordinarily limited. So he’s not just a genius. He’s a mad genius — my favorite kind. You could never get money to do this in Hollywood, but this is exactly the reason film festivals exist — to see experimentation from around the world that can transport you to a community you would never otherwise see.
"…a rare gem..."
