A cinema in a small Irish town goes through the motions during one eventful Friday night screening from hell.
Over the course of one evening, the film follows the travails of beleaguered cinema owner Earl Clancy (Colin Morgan) as he faces a myriad of disasters, any one of which could sink him. The film's story is told in real time during a screening of Breathless starring Richard Gere.
Clancy and his fellow employees find themselves under siege from burst pipes, rodents, unruly customers, ageing equipment, inebriated projectionists, financial pressure, and the unstoppable march of new technology in the form of the dreaded Video Home System (VHS) tape machine.
Drawing from writer/director David Gleeson's own experience growing up in a family of cinema owners where his father's 78-year career marked the longest in the cinema business in Ireland, this film is a love letter to a peculiarly Irish cinema experience, which was as much about connecting with people as it was about the movie.
"Anyone nostalgic for a time before sleek multiplexes, recliner seats and the smell of nachos in the evening should warm to David Gleeson’s Once Upon A Time In A Cinema." Screen Daily
