LOGLINE
Amidst spontaneous travels around 1990s Ireland, Oscar, a young boy, finds himself navigating the true essence of adventure and chaos with his father, one spirited weekend away at a time.
SYNOPSIS
OSCAR (10) and HUGH (46) wake up in the middle of nowhere sleeping in a dirty car. They agree that they’re going to head to an island to camp for the weekend, Oscar pesters his Dad to play football with him, which he agrees to, in passing.
They have fun around the island and eat crisp sandwiches, then Hugh suggests they go to the pub to play pool and that they’ll pitch their tent later.
The night progresses and Oscar runs out of pool companions, Hugh gets drunk. Oscar pleads with his father to leave but to no avail. He finds a corner of the bar to lie down in and falls asleep.
When he wakes his father is still at the bar, drinking and smoking. Hugh is criticised for his parental skills and engages in a melee. They get kicked out of the bar leaving Oscar to mind his now extremely inebriated father. Oscar attempts to pitch their tent in the dark, he gets it into some shape and rolls his father into it... where he then vomits. Oscar has no choice but to sleep outside the tent as the sun rises.
The following day they head back to the mainland. Whilst driving home Hugh decides to surprise Oscar by pulling up to a pitch where they play football in the rain, Hugh hurts himself and they laugh. Oscar is satisfied with his comeuppance.
Hugh insists Oscar doesn’t mention anything negative about their trip to his mother, he groggily agrees. He tells his mother about their weekend in vaguenesses and watches his father drive away. He sits in his room listlessly as Hugh drives in to the night, alone.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
This film only exists thanks to the pandemic.
As someone who traditionally never took the time to sit down and write I was finally forced to put pen to paper through sheer boredom and ennui. I decide to start jotting down anecdotes from my atypical upbringing and realised that this was as good a place as any to start. 3 years on and with the film finally finished I can say that this first foray into personal filmmaking has been one of the most dizzying rollercoasters I’ve ever ridden.
My weekends with my father were packed to the brim with adventures, strangers, chaos, endless car-journeys, a superabundance of illegalities and to be honest, an awful lot of fun!
And, as I’ve slowly metamorphosed into a proper filmmaker I can finally see with some perspective the abnormality of it all and I understood now the importance of turning it into a film.
Not just for my own catharsis but also because the film itself is a vessel for people to ponder their own relationships with their parents. To look at the scenarios that have maybe enveloped them through their lives.
The trauma that has perhaps shaped them as adults and, in fact, made them into people they should, actually, be quite proud of.
‘Two For The Road’ I think was as important for me to make as it might be for you to see.
I think it explores the malleability of children and the influence our parents have on us and that love really can triumph… and that that, perhaps, isn’t always a good thing.
We shot the film on glorious 16mm Kodak stock on the Beara Peninsula in West Cork and for me the whole film looks and feels like a 90s memory. When you watch it, I hope that you can experience this memory with me but I also hope it invokes some memory in you and, who knows, you too might find yourself healing unexpectedly.