Film

Intermission

Name: Intermission
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Released: 2003
Cast: Colin Farrell, Colm Meaney, Kelly Macdonald, Cillian Murphy, Brían F. O'Byrne

Drama

A Dublin ensemble comedy-drama where a couple's messy breakup triggers a cascade of chaos through a small community of cops, criminals, and drifters. It's scrappy and digressive, held together by sharp performances and a genuine affection for its characters' small humiliations. For anyone who loves character-driven comedies with an edge and a distinctly Irish irreverence.

TMDb rating

3.1

If you liked this

In Bruges2008

Colin Farrell returns in another Colin-and-collaborators story about flawed men in a confined setting, but this time with Martin McDonagh's precise wit and genuine emotional depth. It's a masterclass in tonal balance.

But It's far more dramatically serious than Intermission, and the violence and loss are real rather than played for laughs. Some find the preciousness of the writing exhausting.

Swingers1996

An ensemble of friends navigating relationships, ego, and disappointment in a small world. It has that same energy of people bouncing off each other and making things worse through good intentions and bad timing.

But It's very much of the '90s, and the gender politics haven't aged as gracefully as the film deserved. Some of the 'bro' culture will grate.

Shallow Grave1994

Edinburgh's underworld collides with ordinary lives in ways both comic and genuinely dark. Danny Boyle's debut shares Intermission's interest in how quickly everything can unravel when people act on impulse and fear.

But It's considerably grimmer and less forgiving of its characters. The comedy is much darker, and the body count matters in ways it doesn't here.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Intermission

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Kiss of the Spider Woman1985

Both films trust their cast to generate meaning through interaction rather than plot mechanics. They're less interested in what happens than in what people reveal of themselves through how they talk and react.

Two men in a prison cell navigate reality, fantasy, storytelling, and genuine connection. Raúl Juliá and William Hurt create a universe through dialogue and performance alone. It's intimate and digressive in ways similar to Intermission, but achieved through restraint rather than bustle.

But It's a two-hander confined to a single room—the opposite of Intermission's sprawl. It's slow, it's politically serious, and it requires you to sit with two people's loneliness.

Four Rooms1995

An absurdist ensemble piece set in one location where every interaction spirals. Like Intermission, it's more interested in the texture of people colliding than a tidy plot, and it has genuine affection for its damaged cast.

But It's widely considered self-indulgent and exhausting. The novelty of the conceit wears thin, and the philosophy can feel undergraduate.

Seven Psychopaths2012

McDonagh again, this time with Colin Farrell and an ensemble of damaged men. It's deliberately meta about storytelling and violence, and it has that same Dublin-adjacent scrappiness with higher stakes and darker purpose.

But The self-aware commentary can feel like showing off. Some viewers find it exhausting to watch characters discuss what kind of story they're in.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang2005

Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer in a crime comedy that wears its artifice proudly and digresses constantly. The cast plays broken people with genuine warmth underneath the chaos.

But It's deeply in love with how clever it is, and the meta-commentary isn't everyone's cup of tea. The plot resists coherence deliberately.

The Guard2011

Brendan Gleeson as a small-town Irish cop in a crime thriller-comedy. It captures that same mixture of local colour, wry humour, and people making terrible choices for understandable reasons.

But It's more straightforward than Intermission and leans harder on Irish stereotypes. Some find it sentimental, especially in its treatment of faith and tradition.

Drinking Buddies2013

Joe Swanberg's improvised ensemble piece about friends and relationships in a small Chicago world. Like Intermission, it trusts the cast to find comedy and sadness in everyday collision.

But The improvisation means it meanders, and there's very little plot. For people who need structure or find mumblecore tedious, this will feel like watching paint dry.

Storytelling2001

Both are obsessed with how small communities generate drama through pretense, desire, and the stories they tell themselves. Both see comedy in the gap between who people think they are and who they actually are.

Todd Solondz's deliberately provocative ensemble film about the gap between how we tell stories and how we live them. It's shambling, crude, sometimes hilarious, often uncomfortable—a film about people disappointing each other that includes you in the disappointment.

But It's genuinely offensive in ways Intermission isn't and doesn't apologize. Some scenes are designed to make you squirm. It's bleak in a way that doesn't resolve into warmth.

Three Colors: White1994

Both are fascinated by how a single rupture—a breakup, an insult, a loss of status—can reshape a person's entire world. Both find profound dignity in their characters' attempts to recover and rebuild, mixing lightness with genuine pain in ways that shouldn't work but do.

Krzysztof Kieślowski's deceptively playful meditation on humiliation, desire, and revenge. A Polish hairdresser returns to Warsaw to rebuild his life after his French wife leaves him. It looks like a light comedy but becomes something far stranger and more touching.

But It's slow, abstract in a way that defies easy interpretation, and the 'comedy' is often uncomfortable rather than fun. It's a film that requires patience and trust.