A Good Woman is Hard to Find (4/5) – Fantasia 2019 Review

A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND is a crime thriller that takes place in Ireland. It has a small story that works very well in every way. Especially thanks to the brilliant starring actor, Sarah Bolger. World Premiere at Fantasia 2019. Read more in our A Good Woman is Hard to Find review.

A Good Woman is Hard to Find is a crime thriller that takes place in Ireland. It features an impressive performance by Sarah Bolger, which is actually reason enough to watch it. Screened at Fantasia 2019.

The story itself is rather small but that’s exactly what makes it work. You can’t help but accept that this could very well happen in real life. In fact, I’m sure there are people who can recognize at least some elements of the story.

While the story takes place in Ireland, it is very much a universal story about grief and protecting those you love. 

Read more in our full A Good Woman is Hard to Find review below.

Sarah Bolger is A Good Woman is Hard to Find

We’ve been watching the career of Sarah Bolger for quite a few years. She started out as a child actor and quickly moved into doing horror movies. She was in movies like The Moth Diaries (2011) and The Lazarus Effect (2015). Also, she had the title role in the horror-thriller Emelie (2015) which is pretty damn creepy.

In A Good Woman is Hard to Find, she plays an adult woman who recently lost her husband and is struggling to move on. She has two kids and does the best she can with them, but she also longs to find out who killed her husband.

This double-edged sword of moving on for (and with) your kids while wanting closure is perfectly shown in her every move. Sarah Bolger can also be seen in the Sons of Anarchy TV series spin-off Mayans M.C. 

Based on these two performances alone, I am even more intrigued to see what she does next.

What would you do?

When things start to take a turn for the even worse in Sarah’s (Sarah Bolger) life, you can’t help but wonder; What would I have done? Honestly, I don’t think I would have done exactly what she did.

However, and this is very important, I absolutely understand why she reacts the way she does. In her life, the police cannot be trusted and her mother never liked her husband, so she feels alone. Her one and only goal is to keep her children safe and happy.

I’m sure you can imagine that a woman with nothing to lose (except for her kids) will do whatever she has to, in order to protect those kids. And Sarah does! Which is something I always love… strong women, who will fight for what they love and with whatever means they have.

Another fascinating movie by Abner Pastoll

Abner Pastoll directed A Good Woman is Hard to Find while Ronan Blaney wrote the script. We already watched Abner Pastoll’s previous movie Road Games which had so much potential. Ultimately, it didn’t quite live up to this but it is still very much worth watching.

You might like: Our review of Road Games by Abner Pastoll >

Abner Pastoll both wrote and directed Road Games so maybe directing someone else’s script did him good. Something that works really well in both movies is the casting of Andrew Simpson in a key role. He is definitely someone to look out for in the future.

Ronan Blaney, the scriptwriter for A Good Woman is Hard to Find, previously wrote several short films and a few feature films. His last movie before A Good Woman is Hard to Find was Don’t Go (2018) which starred Stephen Dorff and Melissa George.

If you want a crime thriller with a social realism edge (while still being very badass), then check out A Good Woman is Hard to Find when you get the chance.

A Good Woman is Hard to Find had its world premiere at Fantasia 2019 on July 21, 2019. It will also be out on VOD and DVD on June 23, 2020. Shudder will release the movie on December 14, 2020.

Details

Director: Abner Pastoll
Writer: Ronan Blaney
Stars: Sarah Bolger, Edward Hogg, Andrew Simpson, Rudy Doherty

Plot

Raising a child alone is never easy. Recently widowed young mother Sarah (MAYAN MC’s Sarah Bolger) is struggling to cope through uniquely harrowing circumstances, living in a rough neighbourhood that’s largely under the control of a cruel drug baron (WHITE LIGHTNIN’s Edward Hogg). Her son, Ben (Rudy Doherty), hasn’t spoken a word since the day he watched his father get knifed to death on their very estate. Dismissing the crime as thugs killing each other, Police haven’t done a thing to help, and Sarah’s very much on edge. One day, a local dealer (NOTES ON A SCANDAL’s Andrew Simpson) breaks into her home. He’s ripped off the neighbourhood kingpin and insists on stashing his take in her place. Fearful for the wellbeing of her son and having zero confidence in the police helping them, she allows him to. He keeps coming back. She doesn’t know what to do. But she’s got to do something.