''Alarm'' is a 2008 Irish

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

written and directed by Gerard Stembridge and starring

Ruth Bradley Sharon Ruth Bradley is an Irish actress. She is best known for playing Emily Merchant in '' Primeval'' (2011) and Karen Voss in ''Humans'' (2015–18). She has also had recurring roles in ''Legend'' (6 episodes, 2006), '' The Innocence Project' ...

and

Aidan Turner Aidan Turner (born 19 June 1983) is an Irish actor. He played the roles of Ross Poldark in the 2015–2019 BBC adaptation of ''The Poldark Novels'' by Winston Graham, Dante Gabriel Rossetti in ''Desperate Romantics'', Ruairí McGowan in '' Th ...

Overview

''Alarm'' was filmed primarily in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, Ireland. The lead actors are

(known for his role as

Kíli This article describes all named characters appearing in J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 book ''The Hobbit''. Creatures as collectives are not included. Characters are categorized by race. Spelling and point of view are given as from ''The Hobbit''. Ho ...

in the film series

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ''N ...

) and

(known for playing Garda Lisa Nolan in Grabbers).

Premise

After witnessing the murder of her father by burglars, Molly is living with friends and seeing a psychiatrist (Emmet Bergin) to deal with her panic attacks. She dreams of finding a house where she can live alone. Upon buying her dream house in a Dublin suburb, she gives a house-warming party and one of her friends brings along an old classmate of Molly's, Mal. Molly had fancied Mal during school, and now they become a couple. With a new house and a new boyfriend, things seem perfect. However, her house is soon burgled again and again, although her neighbours are spared. Molly suspects that someone she knows might be involved.

Cast

as Molly *

as Mal * Owen Roe as Joe and Mossie * Tom Hickey as Frank *

Anita Reeves Anita Reeves (24 June 1948 – 7 July 2016) was an Irish stage and film actress. Early life Born in South Dublin, Ireland, the youngest daughter of Jack Reeves and his wife, Kay. Reeves grew up on Sundrive Road in Dublin 12, where her father Ja ...

as Jessie * Emmet Bergin as Psychiatrist * Alan Howley as Peter * Fionnuala Murphy as Receptionist * Alan Martin Walsh

Release

''Alarm'' was shown at the Irish cinema in 2008. On 30 November 2010 an American DVD was published by the IFC Film studios.

Critical reception

When director and writer Gerard Stembridge introduced ''Alarm'' to the audience he said that he had wanted to do a "swan song for the Celtic tiger" (i.e. Ireland's economic boom in the 1990s). Furthermore, he had wanted to create a good old-fashioned thriller. However, critics doubt that he succeeded with this, noting that the plot is predictable. Many scenes were filmed at night and the action during these scenes is hard to see.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 1135960 Films shot in Ireland English-language Irish films English-language Swedish films 2008 films Films set in Dublin (city) 2008 thriller drama films Irish thriller drama films Films set in Ireland Films shot in the Republic of Ireland 2008 drama films 2000s English-language films