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Alongside playing Paul McCartney in The Beatles films and juggling the occasional Bond rumor, Paul Mescal has lent his support to a short film from his home town.
The Oscar nominee has become exec producer on the Oscar-qualifying
short “Mary Is Missing,” an Irish psychological thriller directed by Aisling Byrne and produced by Killian Coyle for Run of the Mill and Arcade Film and created through a collaborative writers’ room with learning-disabled artists. The film was made in Maynooth, where Mescal grew up.
“There are films that remind you just how exciting cinema can be when it opens itself up to new voices. For me, ‘Mary is Missing ‘is one of those films. It’s bold, surprising and unlike anything else I’ve seen, and what stayed with me most when I first saw it was the collaborative spirit behind it,” said Mescal. “The film has been shaped through the imagination and lived experience of artists with intellectual disabilities, and that originality is there in every frame. Knowing it was created in Maynooth, where I grew up, makes it feel especially close to home.”
Mescal added that in coming on board as executive producer, he wanted to help bring the film to the “widest possible audience and championing such a distinctive piece of Irish filmmaking.”
“Mary is Missing” follows care worker Mary, who vanishes without a trace from the Yellow Tree Day Service. When Garda Foley arrives to investigate, the attendees who were among the last people to see Mary become key witnesses. But as their accounts begin to contradict one another and take increasingly fantastical turns, Foley must determine whether they are telling the truth, protecting Mary, protecting themselves, or whether the reality is something far more complicated.
The film’s ensemble includes Mark Smith, alongside Derek McSweeney, Eoghan Ashe, Ella-Jane Moore, Jackie O’Hagan, John Egan, Keith Foley, Maurice Coll, Neil Coffey, Teresa Flood, Wesley Fairbrother, Lucy Smith and Conor Begley. Lloyd Cooney plays Garda Foley, alongside care workers Lauren Larkin and Craig Connolly, with Danny O’Connor, Clare Monnelly and Kamilla Fenger also featuring.
Thirteen of the 19 cast members are artists with intellectual disabilities, with the story developed through a 12-week writers’ room hosted by Run of the Mill. The ensemble contributed ideas around characters, themes and storytelling.
For Byrne and Coyle, “Mary is Missing” marks their third Oscar-qualifying short as a filmmaking team, following “Headspace” and “Turnaround.” “Headspace” won the Grand Prix Irish Short at the Cork International Film Festival and became Ireland’s short film candidate for the 2023 European Film Awards, while “Turnaround” won qualifying awards at both Galway Film Fleadh and Foyle Film Festival.
Byrne’s subsequent short “Misread,” an RTÉ/Ardan commission, won Best Irish Short at Catalyst International Film Festival, while “Turnaround” was nominated for an IFTA and later acquired by Disney+. Byrne, Coyle and Arcade Film are currently developing her debut feature, which is among the final 10 projects selected for Screen Ireland’s Perspectives scheme.
