‘Ballywalter’: Review

Dir: Prasanna Puwanarajah. UK. 2022. 90mins

In the small village of Ballywalter, on Northern Ireland’s east coast, acerbic 20-something taxi driver Eileen (2017 Screen Star Of Tomorrow Seána Kerslake) reluctantly strikes up a friendship with troubled passenger Shane (standup comic Patrick Kielty) and, in the process, confronts some difficult truths about herself. While the dramatic destination may be signposted fom the off, this well-observed debut from actor-turned-director Prasanna Puwanarajah handles its themes lightly, leaning into dark comedy rather than melodrama, and that approach, together with strong central performances, serves it well.

In his first dramatic role, Kielty is authentic and likeable

Supported by BFI, Screen Ireland and Northern Ireland Screen, Ballywalter — which filmed there under strict Covid-19 protocols in late 2020 — heads to Cork International Film Festival after opening Belfast, and its long-term prospects are likely strongest with domestic audiences. The presence of Kielty, and the fact that director Puwanarajah is currently playing BBC journalist Martin Bashir in season five of The Crown, may increase word of mouth and help the film find a rewarding home on a streaming platform.

While its title might call to mind that other eponymous on-screen Irish town Ballykissangel (a fictional place, unlike Ballywalter), this view of Irish life is a world away from that mid-90s BBC drama’s bucolic panorama. Here, strong County Down accents fill the air as Eileen drives through Ballywalter, passing well-worn backstreet pubs and faded murals which speak to Northern Ireland’s sectarian past — and, as the camera lingers on a memorial to recently murdered journalist Lyra McKee, its continuing struggle to find a united identity.

It’s an atmospherically appropriate setting for this story of disconnection, written by Belfast-born writer/director Stacey Gregg (whose own 2021 directorial debut Here Before featured a protagonist also attempting to exorcise the ghosts of the past). Kerslake brings sharp vulnerability and charm to Eileen – a role reminiscent of her breakout in Darren Thornton’s A Date For Mad Mary – who is trying to work out what the future holds after a failed stint in London forces her to return home and (illegally) drive her ex-boyfriend’s cab. For her, Ballywalter is the last stop on a road to nowhere.

For Shane, however, the village offers the anonymous sanctuary he craves. Separated from his wife and daughter, he is also something of a lost soul, but is attempting to galvanise his life by taking a comedy course in Belfast. The weekly taxi journey to the city brings him into Eileen’s orbit and he pair strike up a tentative friendship, coming to realise they are fighting similar demons. In his first dramatic role, Kielty is authentic and likeable, effectively playing down his comedy roots — Shane is woodenly unfunny, and the laugh-out-loud moments belong to the caustic Eileen. 

That Kielty’s father, John, was shot dead in 1988 by the UDA gives additional weight to his character, who uses comedy as a way to both mask his pain and find a renewed sense of belonging. And director Puwanarajah, a Sri Lankan Tamil by birth who now lives in England, also brings his own post-conflict heritage to the project. While Ballywalter is by no means an overtly political film, and may rather succumb to the cliche of the pat happy ending, the backdrop of  fractured communities gives added resonance to its tale of human connection.