AllMovie

This evocative, at times chilling, Irish drama offers a bruising glimpse into the psychological effects of a bad marriage in a country where divorce is still illegal, forcing both partners to endure their torment in silence. The story begins in the present and then flashes back to different points to explain the events leading up to the central conflict. Corporal Liam is first seen drunk, quietly angry and emotionally unstable. He starts a fight with his wife Tina. Earlier in the day he had been watching the sexy, maliciously flirtatious Michelle. Later he goes with some friends, including her brother Frank, to the pub to hoist a few. Tina is seen shopping and being forced into an electronics store by a girl friend. She meets and speaks to the cheerful Ronnie, Michelle's husband. Though Michelle is unkind to him, he tries hard to ignore her constant put-downs. Though Tina quietly conveys her interest in the steady seeming Ronnie. Liam takes his lust for Michelle to an entirely different, much darker level.