The Sunrise Inn

The Sunrise Inn was born from the creative pressure-cooker of a 2-day film festival in the historic town of Birr, Co. Offaly—where filmmakers get a weekend to conceive, shoot, and deliver a finished short film.
I filmed and edited this piece, pulling together a tight, engaging story that made the most of the limited time, local locations, and talented cast.

The Sunrise Inn follows a brother-and-sister hitman duo who have worked together seamlessly for years—until the brother starts having serious second thoughts about taking on any new kills. When a job comes in, he makes a radical choice: instead of pulling off the hit, he walks away from the life of violence and takes a gig playing music in a quiet bar, seeking redemption and a quieter existence.

Shot on location in and around Birr (leveraging the town's historic charm and the real-life Sunrise Inn pub), the film was brought to life under extreme time constraints— quick setups, improvised solutions, and a frantic edit to meet the festival deadline. John Doran and Aoife Spratt delivered compelling, layered performances as the siblings, capturing the tension of their fractured partnership and the brother's internal conflict.