Revelation Review: Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story – The imaginative truth

Directed by Sinéad O’Shea
Featuring Jessie Buckley

10/10

Who is Edna O’Brien? Entering the intimate cinema, all that many filmgoers would have known was that she was an Irish writer from the 1960s. During the 98-minute documentary, not only did they learn just how prolific a writer she was, but also how monolithic she was as an individual. “Fuck the plot. That is for precocious schoolboys. What matters is the imaginative truth,” O’Brien says.

Through archival video, interviews, and news coverage, the story of the Blue Road unfolded—a reference to her youth and her stubborn nature (after being questioned that such a road does not exist by her rather abusive husband). It was in the ‘60s that she took her love of writing to the next level and debuted with a rather frank novel, The Country Girls. Americans loved her; the conservative Irish hated her. Her success enraged her husband, made her a pariah in her native county, and her works were banned and burned.

O’Brien granted access to the production to read her journals (voiced by Irish actress Jessie Buckley), an element to the documentary that is both epistolary in nature and a stunning narrative tool. Her works were dark, insightful, and true to the feminine experience, and because of this, they were labelled as “filthy” content. While the film delved into her torrid affairs, Hollywood lifestyle, and famous parties with the likes of Marlon Brando and Sean Connery, to name a few, we also see the darker elements of fame and creativity laid bare—especially in the dissolution of her marriage with a man jealous that she had become more famous than he, and the lengths his abuse went to—such as taking her paychecks and giving her “pocket money” from her own earnings, to a disgusting letter addressed to their sons with the sign-off “your ex-father.”

Biopic documentaries can be a hard watch, as there is no particular end to them. However, the use of the journal entries to position the next chapter of O’Brien’s life assists in driving the story. It proves to be a fulfilling mechanism, especially when some moments feel like they are the end, only to start again.

Towards the end, after suffering a period of writer’s block and losing a lifestyle she had become accustomed to, O’Brien turned to teaching. The ripple effect she had in the literary community was no small feat, and her brusque nature led many to commit to their works and become notable in their own right today. Her writing stepped away from romance and love, no doubt due to affairs of the broken heart. “Falling in love is such an inconvenience,” O’Brien once said during an interview. Her work later took a political turn, covering the IRA riots and providing a psychological review of Ireland at the time.

From threatening the male ego of authors to building the foundation for a new generation of writers, O’Brien’s insights and calm compassion were as poignant as her stories. Blue Road artfully dissects the impact of arts practitioners on a society (and even on a global scale) and how one voice has the power to evoke new discourse—a parallel with many conversations around political climates in the world we see today.

JOSHUA HAINES

Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story is showing at Revelation Perth International Film Festival 2025, which runs from Wednesday, July 2 to Sunday, July 13, 2025. For screening times head to revelationfilmfest.org