Molly's Way

This unassuming tale may not have an action-packed plot, fancy special effects or well-known cast but it crams plenty of something better in its short runtime – heart.

We follow our protagonist, Irish 20-something Molly (Mairead McKinley), on a voyage of discovery that is horrifying, hopeful and heart-rending, sharing her fears, joys and tears every step of way.

The film follows her as she arrives in a small Polish in search of a man, Marcin. All she knows is his name and that he “works in coal”. We quickly find out they shared one memorable night together and young Molly is now pregnant. Will she find her Prince Charming and live happily ever after?

Molly’s hunt is not easy. She is a stranger in a very strange place, unable to communicate with the unfriendly and unhelpful locals.

The harsh landscape of post-industrial Poland is not a welcoming one. Director Emily Atef’s cinematography is masterful here as she presents a labyrinth of run-down buildings, wasteground and small apartment blocks.

Undeterred, Molly finds herself a room at the hotel/ brothel Britta, run by a formidable German landlady of the same name (Ute Gerlach). This woman has all the warmth of Mrs Danvers and her only affection is for her pet tortoise. Personally, I’d rather take my chances at the Bates Motel than this bleak cesspit. But Molly happily unpacks, scrubs her room from top to bottom and adds a few flowers and pictures to make it homely.

She soon offers to clean the rest of the dump for free bed and board and so quickly gets to know her whore neighbours. At first brassy and intimidating, their hard exteriors soon crumble before Molly’s kind nature. Don’t get me wrong, Molly is not a Doris Day-alike who instantly wins the love of everyone around her. She is not sexy, funny or sunny. She is simply friendly, endearing and her hope cannot help but cheer those around her, especially the viewer.

Soon, more and more people show kindness to our heroine, making Poland a little less scary. Some locals at a dance get her singing, while a friendly taxi driver (Miroslaw Baka) who finds her wandering alone lost late at night takes her back to the Britta.

He tells her “sometimes you have to lose your way to find a better way”. This sentiment is at the heart of the film. Molly seems so determined to find what she thinks she wants, it takes her some time to learn what it is she really needs. She wants to find her handsome stranger who professed his love and set up home as a family, escaping her dull life with her parents in Ireland. Her staunch Catholic upbringing also demands this.

But is this really what she craves at the end of this tale, when she has discovered she has the ability and strength to be independent? When she discovers her Prince Charming is the biggest stranger of all in this alien landscape?

Mairead McKinley is a sensation as Molly and her sensitive, powerful performance is the highlight and heartbeat of the film. Rightly winning awards for her portrayal, she is worth keeping an eye on.