The film stars one of Ireland’s most famous actors.
Barber, one of the best reviewed Irish crime thriller movies of recent years, is now available to watch at home.
Streaming via NOW Cinema and Sky Cinema, the film stars Aidan Gillen (Love/Hate, Kin) as Val Barber – a private investigator in modern-day Dublin hired by a wealthy widow to find her missing granddaughter Sara (Isabelle Connolly).
“As initial investigations into her disappearance begin to darken, secrets surface in unexpected ways,” the plot synopsis reads.
“Before too long, Barber finds himself entangled with powerful men of shady morals determined to thwart his investigations. Has he bitten off more than he can chew?”
Barber re-teams Gillen and co-writer/director Fintan Connolly after their previous collaboration on the movie Trouble with Sex.
Their latest also features an impressive supporting cast of Irish actors including Aisling Kearns (Darklands), Desmond Eastwood (Normal People), Gary Lydon (The Banshees of Inisherin), Helen Behan (The Virtues), Jimmy Smallhorne (Taken Down), Liam Carney (Calm with Horses), Rúaidhrí Conroy (Six Shooter), Simone Collins (All You Need is Death) and Steve Wall (Dune: Part Two).
Following its world premiere at the Dublin International Film Festival, the crime thriller was released in Irish cinemas in April 2023 to strong reviews.
Holding a 79% Rotten Tomatoes score, Barber’s lead turn by Gillen, its noir story and its portrait of a changing Ireland were singled out for particular praise.
You can read a sample of these positive reviews for the film right here:
Cinemalogue: “Although it treads familiar narrative territory, this gritty and evocative Irish thriller benefits from a solid performance by Aiden Gillen in the title role.”
MovieJawn: “Connolly’s film works more as a shrewd character study than a tough, cynical thriller, though it is, indeed, both.”
Radio Times: “A playful and referential hark back to film noir of old, starring Aidan Gillen as a careworn gumshoe in modern-day Dublin.”
RogerEbert.com: “Barber takes place during the initial months of Covid lockdown (incidentally, when it was filmed). Social distancing is on everyone’s minds, and frequent Zoom calls are a novelty. The Dublin in Barber, indeed the Ireland in Barber, is torn between the past and the present. There’s a lot of tension along old fault lines.”
Barber is streaming now in Ireland and the UK via NOW Cinema and Sky Cinema.
