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Ciarán Hinds, Iben Hjejle, Aidan Quinn, Jim Norton, Eanna Hardwicke ... see more see more... , Hannah Lynch

Michael Farr (Ciarán Hinds of Munich) is a depressed widower who teaches shop in the small seaside town of Cobh, in County Cork, Ireland, where he lives with his two children. While he continues to ad... read more read more...just to life without his beloved wife, who died two years earlier, he begins to experience strange, possibly supernatural occurrences connected to his elderly father-in-law, who is close to death in a local nursing home. When Michael volunteers at the town's annual literary festival, he's assigned to look after Lena Morelle (Iben Hjejle of High Fidelity). Lena is known for her ghost stories, and Michael, impressed with the realistic nature of her writing, shares his recent experiences with her. While Michael and Lena grow closer, another famous author, Nicholas Holden (Aidan Quinn), a married man with a scandalous reputation, arrives in town for the festival, hoping to rekindle a brief affair he had with Lena a year before. As Michael and Nicholas clash over Lena's affections, Michael's supernatural visions grow more vivid and disturbing. The Eclipse was directed by Irish playwright Conor McPherson (The Actors), from a script by McPherson and author/playwright Billy Roche, loosely based on the story "Table Manners" from Roche's collection Tales from Rainwater Pond. The film had its world premiere at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival, where Hinds won the award for Best Actor in a Narrative Feature. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

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R, 1 hr. 26 min.

Directed by: Conor McPherson

Release Date: March 26, 2010

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DVD Release Date: June 29, 2010

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Flixster Reviews (163)

  • paulsandberg
    December 30, 2011
    paulsandberg
    It's a funny thing when you watch something on the screen that seems entirely plausible and yet you don't believe it for a second. This is the rot that ruins this small film that celebrates (albeit in a somewhat odd manner) all things Irish.

    Here you have two stories going on... read more, and really two types of film at war with each other - a character driven, gentle story of a man trying to adjust to life without his wife, and the occasional creepy, gotcha, type of horror film. The two cannot coincide, which is one of the film's flaws, but has nothing to do with the unbelievability factor. No, sadly, what is unbelievable is the odd love (and it isn't really love at all) triangle between Ciaran Hinds' character Michael (the aforementioned widower), Aidan Quinn's arrogant, needy American Author Nicholas (and why is it that the smarmy guy always has to be the American?), and Lena, a Brit writer of the ghost story which gives the film its name.

    While one can certainly nod ones head and admit that yes, everything that happens between the three is grounded in reality - for some reason it just doesn't play real, especially the scene where a drunken Quinn challenges the quiet and stoic Hinds to fisticuffs. Yes, it could happen, and yes it probably would play out as the amateurish match that follows, but there's just something about the whole thing that's off putting and out of place; just as the ghost story doesn't really dovetail well with the rest of the film.

    There's a huh? scene that takes place in the cemetery of an old ruined church to consider. Lena asks Hinds if he's ever imagined what it would look like to have your name on a headstone. Hinds replies that he doesn't need to imagine as he points out his father's grave (and you discover that Michael is a junior). Lena then awkwardly asks if Hinds' wife is also buried in the graveyard and Hinds replies, "no, she's somewhere else." A moment later we are shown that, indeed, Hind's wife is buried in the cemetery after all.

    I suppose we are to surmise that Hinds is saying that his wife isn't really dead at all - as she "haunts" (and that's a pretty loose term in this instance) him and is therefore alive to him as she controls his life by leaving him in a permanent state of melancholy.

    I really understand that Hinds character is broken, and that Quinn's is just a needy boor who somehow thinks he's entitled to whatever his minds craves at that moment. He doesn't really care about Lena, just thinks he does, and her denial makes him want her all the more, like a child who is told that he can't have an ice cream cone. But does this make for riveting film watching? Sadly, no.

    I mentioned earlier that the film is very Irish. By that I mean it comes across like a Dylan Thomas poem, taking its time as it weaves its tapestry. It shows the slow filling of an empty room and all sorts of imagery meant to convey feeling and atmosphere, but come off, at least in my mind, as rather simplistic and overstated. The film takes the time to recite a passage out of Lena's ghost novel, which reveals a certain tone and theme concerning the belief in ghosts, but also comes across as a "look what I wrote" bit of ham fisted screenplay. The ham fistedness continues when Hinds' father in law states that, while he knows the sadness of losing a wife, losing a daughter makes you wonder if there is a god. Of course he is looking out the window at the church across the street as he utters this little pearl of wisdom.

    The film also contains a scene in which Hinds is driving Lena and she exclaims "oh, what beautiful scenery, can we stop." I'm sure the Ireland Board of Tourism appreciated the gesture, but I'm certain that they could have found, or filmed a more breathtaking bit of scenery to display than what they actually showed. A letdown, just like the film, in spite of the solid performance by Hinds.
  • FilmFanatik
    June 19, 2011
    FilmFanatik
    A surprisingly effective dramatic ghost story. It has some genuinely creepy moments and some good jump moments along with real dramatic tension. It's also wonderfully and beautifully filmed. I'm gonna keep an eye on this director and see what else he has to offer.
  • LWOODS04
    August 14, 2010
    LWOODS04
    Cast: Ciarán Hinds, Iben Hjejle, Aidan Quinn, Dorothy Cotter, Eanna Hardwicke, Hannah Lynch, Jim Norton, Hilary O'Shaughnessy

    Director: Conor McPherson

    Summary: In this supernatural thriller penned and helmed by award-winning Irish playwright Conor McPherson, Ciarán Hinds s... read moretars as a recent widower who begins to sense that a mysterious presence is sharing his house. Iben Hjejle and Aidan Quinn co-star as a pair of novelists whose worlds converge with that of the widower thanks to an international literary festival in Wexford that brings surprising changes to all their lives.

    My Thoughts: "The atmosphere in this film is quite dark, beautiful, and at times a bit creepy. The film is not a horror flick by no means, and they say its a thriller. I feel it's more of a drama with a splash of supernatural mixed in. I will admit the movie made me jump more then twice. I love a movie that takes you by surprise like this one did me. I thought it would be a bit cheesy like so many other supernatural films are, but I am happy to be wrong. Although the story seems to be told quickly, the film moves in a slow manor, which I think fits the film. Great acting by all. I really enjoyed the story and really felt for the father. His grief near the end was quite sad. The concept of seeing the ghost of a loved one before their death is definitely creepy, and in a sense quite scary. If you believe in that sort of thing. I think it would be horrifying knowing its going to happen before it actually does. I don't think anyone would want to know that. All in all, I found the film to be a nice surprise. I liked that although supernatural things are happening, it didn't over take the film. The only complaint I would have, is that some of the scenes are a bit too dark. But besides that, its well worth the watch."
  • ceWEBrity
    August 9, 2010
    ceWEBrity
    Far be it for me to turn my nose up at a horror movie, but The Eclipse is host to the most distracting attempts to jolt its audience that I've ever seen. It's not that the movie creates a particularly dark atmosphere or even story that might lend some credence to these few macabr... read moree twists; they are literally cheap, out of place jump scares meant to remind us that we should be paying attention to the movie during its more introspective moments. The most egregious of these, falling near the end, has the especially unfortunate timing of coming right before its main character's emotional catharsis. Literally seconds before it. It serves as a side-by-side portrait of The Eclipse's greatest weakness: it can't make its good ideas work together.

    When it's not a poorly told ghost story, it's a tale of finding romance after tragedy and picking up the pieces. At this it does quite well, in part due to the efforts of Ciaran Hinds and Iben Hjejle. They both seem like quiet, observant people, illustrated by Hjejle's reluctant sashaying through the limelight and Hinds' unassuming personality. The moments these two share together are tender and perfectly timed, a truly intimate look into the connection that blossoms between two older wallflowers. Aidan Quinn, as the boorish American novelist who antagonizes the relationship at several turns, encounters more problems both in his performance and in his character. Assessed technically, he's shouty and overblown, and not really in places where the role calls for it. His character, Nicholas Holden, is rotten in ways far too obvious for an otherwise subtle romantic subplot. The Eclipse finds a perfect place for him in a fantastic dinner scene between him and Hjejle about half an hour into the movie. We see him as a pompous try-hard who is nonetheless affected by the moments he's shared with her, a characterization that would have served the movie much better than the bombastic drunk he transforms into within the next hour. (And on that note, given his interpretation of drunkenness, I don't think Quinn has ever been drunk in his life.)

    The Eclipse is unwound by its unsubtleties. The admirable silence of much of the movie, even while working in tandem with its beautiful if occasionally disorienting shadowy photography, doesn't really tell us as much as the shitty jump scares and the explosive yelling and fighting. It's almost as if Conor McPherson was afraid of making a boring movie and whipstitched in some ersatz conflict. The Eclipse is not boring, but it's sloppy and unfocused, which in light of its strengths makes it simply disappointing.
  • lewiskendell
    June 30, 2010
    lewiskendell
    "Then she knew. She knew that she was seeing a ghost, and she realized for perhaps the first time in her life, that she too would die. That her husband would die. And that her children would die. She knew in that moment, that she was looking at reality."

    The Eclipse is a tough m... read moreovie to describe. It's an odd Irish mixture of a supernatural thriller and a family drama, that is very slow-paced. The entire movie occurs in a relatively short time frame, and not much appears to "happen", though it really does.

    Ciaran Hinds stars as a father of two who's recently lost his wife, and is charged with attending to a supernatural fiction writer (Iben Hjejle) who has come to Ireland for a literary festival. He begins to have either dreams or visions of his dead father (who's actually still alive), as he slowly draws closer to the female writer.

    That's hardly a servicable summary, but this movie is difficult to summarize. As I said, it's slow-paced; but that suits the movie. I never found it dull or boring. I can't really think of anything to compare it to. It's a very adult drama, that deals with death and loneliness without being depressing or sappy. Don't watch it expecting a horror movie, or a typical romance, or...well, the best thing to do would be to not expect anything specific, at all. Watch The Eclipse with a completely open mind. Be assured, though, that it has a lot to offer. It's one of the more "genuine" movies that I've seen in quite a while. Maybe once you've watched it, you can describe it better than I can.
  • gator681
    April 11, 2010
    gator681
    Normally, Michael Farr(Ciaran Hinds) is a widowed woodworking teacher with two children. For one week every year in Cobh, Ireland, he helps out with the local literary festival. One night, he sees an apparition of his still living father-in-law(Jim Norton) who in the confusion ... read morehe had forgotten to pick up from an assisted living home the night before. In a spare moment, Michael succumbs to the first sign of insanity which is looking up information on the internet. In the meantime, he takes Nicholas Holden(Aidan Quinn), a pompous American writer, to a reading while being chided for his tardiness. However, Lena Morelle(Iben Hjejle) is nowhere to be found when he goes to collect her at the train station which is a shame because she just wrote a book about ghosts.

    They sure do not make ghost movies like "The Eclipse," that emphasize emotions over body counts and violence, anymore which is a large mark in its favor. So, is actually making a movie in Ireland without mentioning the IRA, the national cliche. This is a charming and atmospheric movie that has a tendency to lull the audience into a sense of calm before shocking them, and that is not to mention the sublime scene right before the end. It also gives a great meaning of a haunting as something from the past that cannot entirely be escaped from, be it living or dead, set in a small city like many others in Europe where the past coexists so well with the present that the two simply blend together.
  • DocHalister
    June 3, 2011
    DocHalister
    A man (Ciaran Hinds) living in a scenic seaside Irish town grieves the death of his wife; and finds himself literally haunted by his suicidal father-in-law. When a writer's conference is held in this town, our widower meets an attractive woman author (Iben Hjejle). She speciali... read morezes in penning emotionally meaningful ghost stories. Perfect! Ahhh, but another writer (Aidan Quinn)--a conceited ass--also has designs on the lady. So we have a clumsily assembled Love Triangle to deal with. Honestly, it would have been better to stick to the ghost story theme--we might have wound up with something as good as The Sixth Sense. For example, is there a reason why the father-in-law would like to drag his son-in-law down into perdition? Maybe some blame associated with the death of their daughter/wife? That's left unexplored. But enough about Conor McPherson's mediocre script. The cinematography by Ivan McCullough is excellent. Not just because of the attractive subject matter--I mean in terms of the angles, camera movement, and creative use of contrast. Unfortunately the musical score is pretty inept. Especially the use of the boys choir...man, that's grating. Re: the acting, the revelation here is our female lead Iben Hjejle. I'd like to see much more of her in future. Attractive, well-spoken, authentic. (She does constantly look as if she hasn't had a good night's sleep; but that suits her character here). The male lead Ciaran Hinds is barely adequate; surely even little ol' Ireland could've cast someone more interesting, attractive and empathy-engendering! The best-known of the three, Aidan Quinn, has a large supporting role he plays well until the hoaky "showdown" fight over the girl. There he's overacting all over the place though I'm not sure how that unlikely escalation of events could've been done more naturally anyway...
  • whosinthenews
    August 9, 2010
    whosinthenews
    Eclipse has enough going for it that it almost (like its scares) lulls you believing that it's better than it really is. It's beautifully shot, nicely acted, sometimes touching, and particularly good at jumping out of the closet. I enjoyed one specific moment where the music almo... read morest breaks the third the wall by going beyond the normal function of mood heightening music when the soft, ambient, choir vocals crescendo ever higher to a near shriek, as if morphing from film score to otherworldly, banshee cry.
    Those things don't, however, change the fact that this has five individual story elements which go AB.SO.LUTE.LY noooooowhere.

    1} Man is bothered by apparition of dying father
    2) Man has recently lost wife
    3) Love interest comes to town and happens to be a writer who happens to write about ghosts.
    4) Love interest had a fling with another writer, he ends up being crazy.
    5} Kids attitude toward losing mother.

    So, we have all of these setups that should be used to build a thrilling narrative but instead they're allowed to fizzle out and die. It's like one, big, circular, dead end where every part negates the next...
    The grandpa haunts the dad, the kids want to know what's wrong but the dad is too busy trying to get the opinion of the writer lady, but he can't because they're constantly being harassed by the crazy writer guy.
    It ends up being a surface level ghost tale and the banal love story that results from it. No one learns anything and they all live happily ever after...I guess. It briefly shows us the "what's" and "where's" but leaves the "why's" on the cutting room floor.
  • jim222001us
    June 30, 2010
    jim222001us
    A widower Michael Farr (Ciar'an Hinds) starts to see and hear things in his house. For instance, he sees the ghost of his father in-law....when he's not even dead yet. Since Michael's the driver for a beautiful author of supernatural fiction Lena Morella (Iben Hjejle), he figures... read more that he should get her opinion about what's going on. The two start to get closer, but a married author (Aiden Quinn) that's obsessed with Lena is always around acting as if he's Lena's boyfriend.

    I think I just told you the whole movie lol. The Eclipse, is only an hour and 23 minute movie, but an hour and 27 minutes if you count the credits. During that time you just get a lot of talking and Michael having brief encounters. Hinds is excellent, but the movie could have used another half an hour to give us a fully realized story.

    The film is a nice quiet supernatural thriller like the Sixth Sense and I wanted to like it but it never really got off the ground. Yes, I jumped a few times but we never really get answers to why this guy is being haunted. The movie was just over as soon as I started getting into it.
  • gwetzel13
    March 28, 2011
    gwetzel13
    We Irish and our ghosts. I think we are born with them. A quiet, somber, beautifully filmed little movie.

View All The Eclipse Reviews

Critic Reviews

J. R. Jones
January 3, 2011
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader

The whole thing would probably have flown apart if not for Hinds, whose character, like a dark star imploding, pulls everything toward him. Full Review

John Anderson
July 6, 2010
John Anderson, Variety

Quinn, alternately charming and loathsome, is brilliant, as is Hinds, an actor who has elevated everything he's been in. Full Review

Jonathan F. Richards
May 11, 2010
Jonathan F. Richards, Film.com

McPherson brews a strangely appealing composite, a movie that is mostly character-driven romance but that seasons the proceedings with timely scare-your-pants-off moments of horror. Full Review

Ty Burr
April 15, 2010
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

The town and surrounding landscapes make a gorgeous setting -- the Irish tourist board will be happy -- but at its heart The Eclipse is a small, contained ghost story about a haunted man learning to e... Full Review

Michael Phillips
April 15, 2010
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

Hinds has been ready for a role of this size and shape for years; it was simply a matter of finding it, and its finding him. Full Review

Roger Ebert
April 15, 2010
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The supernatural never seems far out of sight in Ireland, and it creeps in here and there during The Eclipse, a dark romance set at a literary festival in the County Cork cathedral town of Cobh. I'm n... Full Review

Rick Groen
April 9, 2010
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail

Ultimately, though, it feels fleeting and slight passing across our line of vision, never a full but merely a partial engagement. Full Review

Ann Hornaday
April 9, 2010
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

McPherson has managed a rare hat trick in genre mash-up, fashioning a deeply absorbing movie that balances horror, romance, comedy and observant humanism with surprising finesse. Full Review

Linda Barnard
April 9, 2010
Linda Barnard, Toronto Star

An above-average ghost tale elevated by its cast. Full Review

Elizabeth Weitzman
April 6, 2010
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News

There are few surprises hidden in the film's hushed spookiness. Full Review

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