"Reveal to Them Who You Are": Homosexuality and Transgenderism In Recent Irish Cinema

Abstract

In the past forty years Ireland has undergone a radical transformation from treating homosexuality and transgender identities as forbidden crimes punished by imprisonment – to producing multiple films that depict the radical transformation of social attitudes toward homosexuality in Irish culture. Here I will focus on how the medium of film reflects and reflects on this process by exploring three coming-of-age films from the past twenty years. I will take a closer look at Neil Jordan’s Breakfast on Pluto, (2005), followed by the recent Irish comedy-drama, Dating Amber (2020), directed by David Freyne, and the 2016 coming of age drama Handsome Devil, directed by John Butler.