'Spilt Milk' and the Irish Kojak.

4 March 2025

MTP director Brian Durnin's feature debut, 'Spilt Milk', is one of the brownest films DAVID's ever seen, and he means that as a compliment.

MTP director Brian Durnin's feature debut is one of the brownest films DAVID's ever seen, and he means that as a compliment. Set in 1980s Dublin, 'Spilt Milk' is wonderfully evocative of time and place. Mass unemployment and drug abuse brought the city to its knees, but for eleven-year-old Bobby O'Brien (Cillian Sullivan), where there is Kojak, there is life.

Bobby's obsessed with the fedora-wearing, lollipop-sucking detective played by Telly Savalas, so much so that he opens his own detective agency with best friend Nell (Naoise Kelly). The streets of Dublin are just as mean as New York, however, and when Bobby's brother, Oisín (Lewis Brophy), goes missing, his nascent detective skills are pushed to the limit.

From here, 'Spilt Milk' could have become a knockabout comedy where Bobby outsmarts the feckless Gardai and says "Who loves ya, baby?" way too often. Instead, Durnin and writer Cara Loftus deliver a much darker, more grounded tale of how drugs tear families and communities apart. The focus also shifts to Bobby's mum, Maura (Danielle Galligan), and it's a decision that pays off handsomely.

Galligan, whose credits include 'Shadow and Bone' and 'Kin', is superb as a woman who finds her voice through heartache and community spirit. Later scenes touch on the real-life work of Concerned Parents Against Drugs, a group of mums, dads, and neighbours determined to stop young people dying at the hands of pushers. Just as Bobby takes inspiration from Kojak, Maura draws strength from those ready to fight for a safer Dublin.

There are tears along the way, but also plenty of laughs. Sullivan and Kelly make a strong double act in this regard, with the former determined to bust this whole thing wide open and the latter keen to not get in too much trouble. Even when Bobby's faith in Kojak wavers, he still puts many adults to shame in his efforts to find Oisín. In a film with so many shades of brown (fashion, furniture, et cetera), his heart of gold shines bright.