When food became scarce and rent became steep and all your friends and family either had to go or just died, it won’t be a surprise that the generation of survivors, and all who came after, would still weigh upon the nation’s psyche. That was what happened in An Gorta Mór, or the Great Famine of Ireland. It’s the setting behind the slow Irish thriller Monster, and while it doesn’t go in depth about the faulty policy decisions made by the British occupation, it does capture the grief through its strong performances, especially as Colmán remembers the family he has lost. Arracht can strike some viewers as a bit abrupt, especially with the two year time skip, but it’s no doubt a striking reminder of the trauma deliberately struck upon Ireland, the memory that is still strongly felt today.

The language, which is fitting, considering the famine hit the nation so hard, Ireland lost many Gaelic speakers as a result.