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Set in 1980s Dublin, Spilt Milk (2024) follows Bobby, a young boy with big detective dreams and an even bigger imagination.
At first glance, the film feels light, full of childlike wonder.
Bobby dreams of solving mysteries, but soon finds himself in the middle of one. What starts off as a charming, often funny adventure told through the eyes of a child slowly unfolds into something much heavier, revealing the harsh realities of addiction and poverty, and the strength of family.
It is a beautiful and bittersweet coming-of-age debut feature from Irish director Brian Durnin, who recently brought Spilt Milk to Jakarta for the Europe on Screen Film Festival.
Speaking with The Jakarta Post, he talked about what it was like making the film, the universality of the story and why he believes young audiences are ready for more than we often give them credit for.
‘Kids get it’
Although Spilt Milk centers around two children, Bobby and his cousin Nell, Durnin says he never meant for it to be a children’s film.
”We hoped that the movie would appeal to a younger audience, but we never set out to specifically make a movie for kids,” he says.
But he was quick to add that he wouldn’t necessarily treat a children’s movie any differently to an adult movie.
Kids, he says, are cinema literate. They want films that challenge them.
“They’ll get on board with a story if it's not talking down to them,” he adds.
This approach shaped the way he worked with his young cast, too.
“Of course, we moderate the kind of phrasing to use so everything is clear and easy to understand, but I always try to be very honest with them,” he says.
“They surprised me every day with their interpretation of the scenes.”
At a recent screening in the Czech Republic, he was also surprised by how many questions the young audience had during the Q&A.
“The kids in the front row, they just kept asking questions. They must have asked like 15 questions. So clearly something clicked.”
Drawing from real life
While the story isn’t directly autobiographical, Spilt Milk felt personal from the start.
Durnin says it reminded him of his own childhood, especially the time when his father went into rehab when he was 12.
“There were moments I didn’t understand back then, like why he missed my grandmother’s funeral,” he says.
“Later, I found out it was because he was in rehab. You only start putting those things together afterward.”
That feeling of slowly realizing the truth, of looking back and connecting the dots, is something he saw in Bobby’s journey, too.
“As I read the script, I thought, ‘Oh, this is what’s going to happen to him’. I cared about him right away.”
He also drew inspiration from his mother.
“My mum was an amazingly strong character and a big hero of mine my entire life. I was very close to her.”
A universal story
Even though Spilt Milk is set in Ireland, Durnin believes its themes are easy to relate to, no matter where you’re from.
“It’s about family togetherness and the need to stand up for each other or to stand up for what you believe in,” he says.
“Every family has struggles. We all encounter things that could potentially undo a family. In those times, it’s love that’s going to overcome those darker forces.”
He adds, “It’s the same story told in Star Wars and in countless movies across the years. It’s something that would resonate anywhere.”
