Menu
© 2026 The Couch Critic
Browse 179 movies from RTÉ
In a time of superstition and magic, when wolves are seen as demonic and nature an evil to be tamed, a young apprentice hunter comes to Ireland with her father to wipe out the last pack. But when she saves a wild native girl, their friendship leads her to discover the world of the Wolfwalkers and transform her into the very thing her father is tasked to destroy.
Oct 2020
A vacuum repairman moonlights as a street musician and hopes for his big break. One day a Czech immigrant, who earns a living selling flowers, approaches him with the news that she is also an aspiring singer-songwriter. The pair decide to collaborate, and the songs that they compose reflect the story of their blossoming love.
Mar 2007
No one expects much from Christy Brown, a boy with cerebral palsy born into a working-class Irish family. Though Christy is a spastic quadriplegic and essentially paralyzed, a miraculous event occurs when, at the age of 5, he demonstrates control of his left foot by using chalk to scrawl a word on the floor. With the help of his steely mother — and no shortage of grit and determination — Christy overcomes his infirmity to become a painter, poet and author.
Apr 1989
The land is filled with people in urns chattering at top speed, but only to themselves, not to one another. The focus goes to three people: a man, his mistress and his wife.
Jul 2001
The parents of a girl who was killed by a savage dog are granted the opportunity to spend three days with their deceased daughter.
Mar 2011
The movie starts at the 1998 bomb attack by the Real IRA at Omagh, Northern Ireland. The attack killed 31 people. Michael Gallagher one of the relatives of the victims starts an examination to bring the people responsible to court.
Mar 2005
A young woman sits down in a chair. Only her mouth is visible as she begins to speak at a rapid clip, describing events that she insists did not really happen to her.
Feb 2000
An autocratic Director (Harold Pinter) and his Assistant (Rebecca Pidgeon) put the final touches to the last scene of some kind of dramatic presentation, which consists entirely of a man (John Gielgud) standing still onstage.
Sep 2001
Julie Harris performs her one-woman show based on the life of Charlotte Brontë.
Nov 1983
With contributions from David Holmes, Christy Moore, Imelda May, Don Letts, BP Fallon and more, this documentary reflects on Sineád O’Connor’s influence on Irish life and people. Five months after her shocking passing, SINÉAD revisits the late singer’s tumultuous life and the film is both a deeply sad and celebratory tribute. Drawn together from RTÉ’s own expansive archive of her TV appearances and footage from around the world, it is an absorbing take on a story that many of us already know very well. However, looking back now after her death, the film pulls into sharp focus just how brave and defiant Sinéad really was.
Jan 2024
A lonely fisherman drifts into haunted waters in search of food and finds much more than he bargained for. Based on an Inuit folktale.
Jun 2002
This documentary is set against the scenic backdrop of Mount Errigal in County Donegal. The mountains of Donegal are depicted like fairytale characters, where the hero Mount Errigal competes with neighbouring villain Mount Muckish. A fantastical narrative explains that the landscape is ‘a battleground where the weapons are the elements themselves’. Dramatic footage of storms and lightning blends with a superb score by Irish composer Brian Boydell.
Jul 1970
Adventure awaits 12 year old Brendan who must fight Vikings and a serpent god to find a crystal and complete the legendary Book of Kells. In order to finish Brother Aiden's book, Brendan must overcome his deepest fears on a secret quest that will take him beyond the abbey walls and into the enchanted forest where dangerous mythical creatures hide. Will Brendan succeed in his quest?
Feb 2009
Based on the writings of David Chapman and Jimmy Brennan, Withdrawal is about Jimmy, a heroin user in a Dublin psychiatric hospital. His thoughts and observations dominate, his subjective voice-over speculating on the lives of his companions. Jimmy leaves the hospital, returning to the city to reconcile with his loved ones, but his withdrawal leads ultimately to a dead end.
Dec 1973
When the ongoing rivalry between farmers Michael and Jack suddenly escalates, it triggers a chain of events that take increasingly violent and devastating turns, leaving both families permanently altered.
Feb 2025
An documentary recounting the story with interviews of cast, crew and production team and including producer Barry Navidi, who had worked for six years to get Divine Rapture made.
Dec 2009
An Irish undertaker profits when outlaws take over a peaceful town, but his own family come under threat as the death toll increases dramatically.
Mar 2019
On the coast of Cork, Syracuse is a divorced fisherman who has stopped drinking. His precocious daughter Annie has failing kidneys. One day, he finds a nearly-drowned young woman in his net; she calls herself Ondine and wants no one to see her. He puts her up in an isolated cottage that was his mother's. Annie discovers Ondine's presence and believes she is a selkie, a seal that turns human while on land. Syracuse is afraid to hope again.
Mar 2010
Starring Eamon Morrissey. Directed by Declan Lowney. One man show based on the writings of Flann O’Brien/Myles na Gopaleen/Brian O’Nolan. The Brother is the quintessential Dubliner, an authority on every topic who always knows best, and has become a loved Irish comic character and is the author of the great ode to stout.
Dec 1992
A mother strives to shield her young family from their new reality when their landlord sells the property and renders them homeless.