Writer: Alice Flynn
Director: Liam Rees
Reviewer: Christine Stanton
“Twisting Narrative”
3.5 / 5
Troubled teen Shona was Ireland’s most famous missing person, her face plastered all over the news for two decades, as family, friends and true crime addicts desperately tried to find answers and put the mystery to rest.
Her sisters Bridget (Beca Barton) and Sally (Mimi Millmore) are just as clueless as to what made their older sister hop on a bus one day without a return, never to be seen again. That is, supposedly until this evening, when a bloodied, confused stranger arrives at Bridget’s house claiming to be Shona (Anna Coupé). Understandably shocked and sceptical, the sisters interrogate the stranger, surprised that she could know so many trivial, accurate details about their family, while simultaneously having no idea that 20 years has passed. Is she the real Shona suffering with a head injury, an imposter trying to worm their way into a case, or something so sinister and supernatural that only folk stories from their childhood could help explain the similarities?
Alice Flynn’s enjoyable narrative is packed with twists and mysteries, keeping the audience guessing even after the final curtain, wrapping them in knots and seemingly deliberately keeping them as confused as the main characters. With Shona being an unreliable source, it’s never fully clear who or what she is, with only a variety of explanations and possibilities presented throughout the 70 minute runtime. While it is enjoyable to follow along with the mystery, it would be nice to have a more defined storyline, because as it stands. at points it almost feels a little too directionless, with not enough structure to keep the busy, varying plot strands together.
The two sisters and the stranger have an interesting dynamic, although suspicious of her, they quickly and comfortably trade tales about their childhood, and the events surrounding Shona being missing, which helps to build up their characters backstories and personalities. While Bridget has tried her whole life to avoid being ‘the missing girls sister’, Sally has leaned into publicity, using her blog as a public platform to offer her own theories on the case. The contrast between them makes for some explosive conversations, and tense revelations that are mixed in well to the overall plot. Barton, Millmore and Coupé do a great job of ramping up the tension and crafting believable sisterly chemistry between them. The short show escalates quickly, from the initial discovery of Shona, to the unrealistic, but fantastically fun finale, that keeps the audience on their toes throughout.
Runs until 28th February 2026
RatedReviewed 
Leave a comment