The Secret Of Roan Inish Movie Review (1994)
An enchanting tale about a young Irish girl learning her family history and searching for her missing little brother, The Secret Of Roan Inish is a beautiful and magical story involving selkies.
I first watched this film when it came out in 1994. To be completely candid, I have always loved it, but don’t remember a single thing about the story other than three basic things – there is a young boy named Jamie, the girl who listens to the elder’s stories has long blonde hair, and the selkie scene. I have watched the selkie scene many times over the years because it is pure magic captured on film. But I recently realized that, while I can describe that scene to you in detail, I couldn’t remember what the actual movie was about. It was time to change that.
The Secret Of Roan Inish is about Fiona, a 10 year old girl who has recently lost her mother and whose father sends her to live with her grandparents in a fishing village in Ireland. They are glad to have her, but continue to mourn her younger brother, Jamie, who was lost at sea when his tiny cradle floated into the ocean as they were moving off their island of Roan Inish. Fiona learns from a local that the “dark ones” in her family (darker complected with dark hair) are directly descended from the one ancestor who married and had children with a selkie, a woman who can shed her seal skin and live on land. When Fiona sees Jamie running one day, she tries to make everyone believe her, but they don’t.
This film feels like a fairy tale. It is sweet and tender and mythical with no “bad guys” to be seen. Everyone is well-intended, except maybe the ancestor who stole the selkie’s skin so that he could keep her as his wife. That’s not a good choice no matter how beautiful she is.
There is only one section of the film that focuses on the capturing of the selkie woman and the children she and her husband had together. When he first sees her on the beach, you watch as she pulls the thick plastic/rubber-like sheath down from her face to reveal her human face and matted black hair. She is mysterious and you are just as enchanted with her as he is. And although she desperately misses the water, and the film highlights the loss and grief well, they are happy during their time together.
This entire movie is shot as if it was filmed centuries ago in a little town. There is a fantasy sheen cast over everything and it feels warm and ethereal. There is a sense of nostalgia while watching, as if anyone could be viewing their own childhood through this lens.
With upbeat Irish music, kind grandparents, and people earning an honest living while telling folk tales to a child, The Secret of Roan Inish is a lovely movie that is perfect for all ages. There is also an underlying sweetness that helps you step into wide-eyed childhood wonder for a few moments, and it’s beautiful.
Runtime: 101 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: PG
Languages Spoken In The Film: English
Should You Watch It? Yes, definitely
Did I Cry? I got choked up
My Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Available: Free for Amazon Prime members and on Tubi, to rent on Prime Video, or may be available for free on other streaming platforms
