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Out of Here is the first feature film by young Dublin filmmaker Donal Foreman, acclaimed in Ireland and abroad for his fictional and documentary shorts. The film focuses on the lack of opportunities and purposiveness among the Irish student population, following college-dropout émigré Ciarán (Fionn Walton) as he settles back into life in the family home after a year travelling. His regret at not having found whatever he was looking for while away, as well as his unhappiness at his prospects in Dublin and his friends’ sense of betrayal at their abandonment are dealt with in naturalistic snippets of conversation as he goes aimlessly from club, to family dinner, to house party, to seafront-cycle and back again.

Out of Here boasts some elegant camera work, with great wide shots of Dublin bay (including a particularly beautiful one of a black-clad boy doing an interpretive dance among the cawing gulls on Sandymount strand) as well as a lot of creative use of street and other public lighting. However, the vibrance of Dublin’s social and cultural life is seen through a lens of boredom and apathy that belongs to the protagonist but seems to infect the camera, and makes the film slightly tiresome toward the end of its short running time.

The use of slow-pacing, perfectly judged dialogue, and plentiful shots of the Dublin cityscape creates a documentary feel, which lends a stamp of authenticity to what the films is saying. Unfortunately, it doesn’t say much. Rather than using the relationship it’s built with the viewer to discuss something interesting, it seems content to go no further than passing comments on issues such as unemployment, educational disillusionment and loneliness. The film brings to mind a sense of impotence reminiscent of another work firmly rooted in the same milieu, Joyce’s Dubliners, but without the feeling of gravity found there.

If you’re in the mood for a distinctly Irish piece of cinema, especially if you have any affection for Dublin, Out of Here is a good film to look out for. Frustrating as it is in its failure to get past a reflection of lower-middle class student life in 2014, it does achieve that reflection expertly, with good writing, cinematography and performances. Perhaps Foreman will use his talents to produce something more memorable next time round.

OUT OF HERE – a new Irish film by Donal Foreman from Donal Foreman on Vimeo.

Out of Here will be showing exclusively at the IFI from November 7.