Keith’s off-beat, quirky script and equally quirky characters might appear a bit over-the-top, or even ridiculous at the start but the characters, like the movie, grow on you so do, stick around.
Kilnerry is a small town where very little happens. Located somewhere in America’s northeast their small population is old and growing older by the second. These people are like old married couples with everyone just really just tolerating each other. Each assigned to their roles, trying their best to play their role in their tiny society. Welcome the flamboyant mayor Jerry (Tony Triano) who also doubles as the bartender. The other main characters include the mailman who is the father of the town’s dedicated sheriff, Gary O’Reilly (played by Keith), and the spirited store owner Nessa (Kathy Searle) who is busy raising her younger brother who is preparing to move away for college.
The folks in Kilnerry are happy with their very simple lives where things we would consider silly become major issues like the year’s long rift between Jerry and the priest, which results in occasional physical fights between the two but for the most part, nothing happens.
That is, until the day an EPA agent arrives to deliver news regarding the local chemical plant that produces a vague compound used in dog shampoo.
All the residents packed into their local church are notified that in an attempt to be more environmentally green, an ingredient used at the plant is being replaced. The agent then introduces chemical B172, which should present no problems for the fish, and water, but could increase the sexual libido displayed in lab rats.
Now, remember. This is a small town filled with an older population who thought their sex lives were long, long, long gone.
They agree and then here’s where the comedy begins. Old man O’Reilly finds his garden gnomes arranged in naughty positions in his yard and he finds a couple naked and having sex behind a dumpster.
You can imagine how it progresses. The characters’ sexual endeavors get more and more ridiculous and as it does, we like them more and more.
Nessa is taken back when she finds Jerry on a sexually charged, pay-by-the-minute phone call before he begins a relationship with the town gossip, Brigid (Sheila Stasack). Aednat (Sybil Lines), who was the one that resisted the most begins dancing again and even smiles, differently, at the mailman who is now filled with lust.
Love in Kilnerry is a very straightforward movie. It absolutely feels like you are watching an adaptation of a play. What makes the film work (and, it does) is because of the characters, the light-hearted premise, and the innocent-sounding jokes.
How can you not laugh when you listen to a group of older residents planning orgies? There are a lot of laughs to be had watching a couple who invested in “all that leather,” and watching a priest become sexually liberated.
Love in Kilnerry looks like a small, indie film but it’s charming and lighthearted, and it comes with a twist, in the end, isn’t entirely shocking or unexpected.
Love in Kilnerry isn’t a perfect film but you will like it.
AWARDS AND FESTIVALS
Nominated, Festival Award: Best Unproduced Screenplay, Madrid International Film Festival, ES, 2022.
Nominated, Best Film. 2nd place, Best Cinematography, Best Director. Around International Film Festival, 2020.
Nominated, Festival Award: Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Lead Actor, Best Comedy. International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema, London, 2020.
Winner, Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Song. International Independent Film Awards, 2020.
Nominated, Jury Award: Best Producer, Best First Time Filmmaker, Best Director. Winner, Best Score, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Feature, Best Produced Screenplay. Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards, 2020.
Nominated, Golden Fox Award: Best Screenplay. Calcutta International Cult Film Festival, 2019.
Winner, Platinum Award: Best Make-Up, Sound Design/Editing, Production Design, Casting, Choreography, Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Actress In A Supporting Role, Best Editing, Best Digital Effects, Narrative Feature, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Leading Role. International Independent Film Awards, 2019.
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