In an age where technology and online presence inform personal narratives, our means of confronting seismic shifts has adjusted to new coping mechanisms, and new approaches to navigating change. Written and directed by Conor Bradley, alongside co-writer Cian McCarthy, short film Sons of Róisín explores the intertwined impact of grief and hearing loss in today’s landscape – articulating McCarthy’s personal experience of living with a hearing impairment. Against the raw backdrop of urban Ireland, the film investigates the theme of ‘silent grief’ through Pádraig’s experience of hearing loss, and its increasing deterioration following his brother’s passing.

Shot between Belfast and Derry, the two cities are merged to create an ambiguous setting, reflective of Ireland in its entirety. From the perspective of youth, Sons of Róisín investigates trauma as a fragment of the whole, creating a portrait of grief as it is lived in the digital age. While Pádraig readjusts to a normality that exists both without his brother, and without the sense of hearing that facilitates his escapism, we see the lasting impression left in their wake.

Reflecting Pádraig’s means of processing his grief as intimate retrospective moments, Sons of Róisín weaves VHS footage into the narrative, considering the modern mode of documenting ourselves and those close for the purpose of sharing. As he finds positivity in his isolation, Bradley and McCarthy study the role of social media when difficulties face us, capturing the realities of grief lived publicly, where strangers are invited to witness from the sidelines.