Kisses

Dylan and Kylie-two pre-teens who live next door to one another in a dreary Dublin housing estate-have equally horrific home lives. The raging temper of Dylan's alcoholic father is a constant threat to Dylan and his mother. And when Kylie isn't being tormented by her older sister or neglected by her working mother, she's avoiding her abusive uncle. Over Christmas vacation, when the threats of Dylan's father become reality, Dylan has no choice but to run away-to find his brother Barry who left home years earlier and lives somewhere in the city. With little money but a lot of hope, Dylan and Kylie embark on a journey into the unknown: the spectacular and seedy streets of downtown Dublin. In the spirit of any mythic odyssey, they start on a ship. And adventures, both terrifying and terrific, are sure to follow. In his third film KISSES, writer-director-cinematographer Lance Daly innovatively uses color (he saturates the screen in conjunction with the emotions of the protagonists and the images grow more colorful the farther they get from home) to bring life to this memorable tale of two desperate adolescents, played by two extraordinarily apt young actors. – E.J.B.