The Eclipse

In this elegantly moody and character-driven love ballad, adapted by director Conor McPherson from Billy Roche’s story, Ciarán Hinds plays a widower and single father in a seaside Irish town who wonders whether his house is haunted. Volunteering at a yearly local literary festival, he appeals to a successful writer of supernatural stories (Iben Hjejle) for moral support, and winds up tangling with her jealous former lover (Aidan Quinn), a haughty famous novelist. McPherson’s presentation isn’t above a few standard-issue horror tactics, but is more interested in a deeper feeling of hauntedness, which it puts across through the simple dignity of a strong script and three generous performances. It’s a film of measuredness and maturity, and a fine one to curl up with.