Kathleen Is Here

Hazel Doupe leads as the unflinching and charismatic "Kathleen" in Eva Birthistle's (Bad Sisters, The Delinquent Season, Brooklyn, Life's A Breeze, Breakfast on Pluto, Borstal Boy) 2024 directorial debut film Kathleen is Here, which received 7 IFTA nominations in 2025, including for Lead Actress in Film category. Hotpress said Hazel was "phenomenal in the role, bringing a complex blend of volatility and childlike innocence" and the Business Post said "Doupe is Extraordinary". Harry Guerin for RTÉ described it as a "well-told small story that asks a lot of big questions" and among the most compelling domestic offerings of 2024". 

 

Kathleen is 18 and fresh out of foster care. Her departure coincides with the death of her biological mother and so she returns to her hometown to take ownership of her mother's house. She gets a job and makes a new friend; but the emptiness of Kathleen's life cannot be filled by social media and reality shows. Alone and desperate for a mother figure, she inserts herself into the life of her neighbour Dee (Clare Dunne, writer-star of Herself, also Spider-Man: Far From Home, The Last Duel, and Small Things Like These) and Dee's small family.

In The Media

Interview with KATHLEEN IS HERE director Eva Birthistle - interviews • Movies.ie - Irish Cinema Site

​Hazel Doupe on doing justice to those who've been through foster care 

Eva Birthistle on her directorial debut 'Kathleen Is Here', Ken Loach’s support and the future of ‘Bad Sisters’ | Screen

Rising star Hazel Doupe on 'whirlwind' so far

​Hazel Doupe on Say Nothing and Kathleen is Here

‘Kathleen Is Here’: Raindance Review | Reviews | Screen

RTE: Kathleen Is Here movie review : Eva Birthistle turns director with a film worth seeing

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