GFF24 · Interviews

Tummy Monster Interview: Ciaran Lyons & Lorn Macdonald – ‘There was a real energy to the shoot – you could feel it’.

Have you ever had a bad experience when asking a celebrity for a selfie? Glasgow-based filmmaker Ciaran Lyons explores the dark side of this idea in his debut feature Tummy Monster, a psychological black comedy set entirely in a tattoo studio. Rising star Lorn Macdonald plays Tales who gets embroiled in a twisted game when a musician turns up at his parlour to get inked in the middle of the night.

Ahead of its World Premiere at Glasgow Film Festival 2024, I jumped at the opportunity to sit down with director Ciaran Lyons and actor Lorn Macdonald to discuss their inventive new film…

I note that you’re both credited with writing the screenplay along with Orlando Norman. What was your process around collaborating? I guess that there was some improv involved…?

CL – Yeah, it’s partly the improv element. I wrote the first draft and it was always my intention that it would be a very actor led piece. I really wanted to give both Lorn and Orlando scope to flesh out their characters and contribute to the script and they did. They both brought an awful lot to it and they crafted their roles into the characters you see on screen.

Continue reading “Tummy Monster Interview: Ciaran Lyons & Lorn Macdonald – ‘There was a real energy to the shoot – you could feel it’.”
cinema · GFF24

Film review: Tummy Monster

 Just how far would a desperate person go to get a selfie with someone famous? Scottish filmmaker Ciaran Lyons explores this in his impressive feature debut Tummy Monster. Fusing psychological thriller elements with jet black comedy, the plot centres around tattoo artist Tales (Lorn Macdonald) who is living out of his studio following a run of misfortunes. When an American pop star (Orlando Norman) and his security guard (Michael Akinsilure) turn up at his shop in the dead of night, he thinks his luck might have changed. After giving him the ink that he desires, Tales asks for a quick snap as a memento because his ‘niece is a big fan’ but when the musician surprisingly declines, their spat starts to spiral out of control.

Continue reading “Film review: Tummy Monster”
DVD & Digital · EIFF23

Film review: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

Robert Louis Stevenson’s gothic novella has been retold on the stage and screen countless times and is so familiar to us that the title itself has become part of our vernacular. The latest adaptation of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde comes from director Hope Dickson Leach, combining mediums in a bold hybrid vision, first shown as a live experience at Leith Theatre in collaboration with the National Theatre of Scotland. Reimagined as an Edinburgh-based noir, Lorn Macdonald stars as Gabriel Utterson, a legal practitioner who turns detective when his friend Dr. Jekyll (Henry Pettigrew) abruptly changes his will, leaving everything he owns to the mysterious Mr. Hyde.

Continue reading “Film review: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde”
DVD & Digital

DVD review: Beats

Beats-Header

It’s the summer of 1994 in a West Lothian housing scheme, and Britain is on the cusp of the New Labour era. The scene is set for Beats, an indie drama directed by Brian Welsh. Based on Kieran Hurley’s award-winning play of the same name, the story follows best pals Johnno (Cristian Ortega) and Spanner (Lorn Macdonald) who share a love of acid house music. With the future of their friendship looking uncertain due to Johnno’s impending move out of town, they have a ‘fuck it’ moment and seek out an underground rave as a last hurrah.

Continue reading “DVD review: Beats”