Holy Irresistible - Review

Most romcoms focus on the rom or even the com side, this one shoots a shotgun blast at rom, com, drama, crime and mystery. I don’t know if all the shots hit the target but there sure is a lot to look at in it.

I’m a frequent watcher of these romcom style films around the winter holidays because they have a certain charm to them. Holy Irresistible removes the snow and wreaths from every door but keeps the small town sensibility while adding in a lot of raunchy dialogue and a weirdly well done drug sequence.

I can safely say that this film is unlike your usual cosy romcom you would find perusing a streaming service.

Holy Irresistible starts off strong, with what I expected to be more dramatic was a funny introduction to Ivy’s (Ian Gregg) life.After losing his parents at a young age, moving in with his Aunt Rad (Lea Delaria). The intro is the only use of narration in the film, which is a nice setup to the story, and does set the tone quite nicely for the rest of the film. It doesn’t always maintain that tone, sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the worst.

Ivy lives in a small town, working in a diner with his friend Surge (Tyler Graham). Surge lives the Vangirl life, drowning in research and contempt for the church. He is convinced there is something shady going on with a local church’s donations as they are looking to fund a mission trip.

Ivy’s relationship with religion is not great, he feels that he has been hard done by in life, dealt a bad hand over and over. When he meets Sadie (Leah Merritt), the preacher’s daughter, he is enamoured. So much so, that he begins attending church and bible study groups. While trying to get the girl, Surge continues to delve deep into the conspiracy behind the church and Aunt Rad copes with the loss of her husband and her cancer treatment through hip flasks and marijuana hits. Ivy’s determination to not only get the girl, but win over her father takes his lies further, stacking complications at every turn.

I’m frustrated with this film, because there is actually quite a bit to like in it, with most of the leads giving pretty good performances, the romantic chemistry coupled with the writing is endearing and the comedy does hit in some moments. However, I think it does everything to a half potential that it could be. The film could have been as silly as the opening and worked really well, it could have focused more on the romance and effectively built a connection that I cared about, but instead it spreads itself too thin and gets lost in giving everyone something to do that doesn’t really resolve in a satisfying way. The film concludes and I don’t think that Ivy’s relationship with religion changes much at all, even if some interesting theological questions are posed at times. There is nothing really done with them, no deeper conversations or even long enough conversations to feel complete. There are some nice scenes with Ivy and Sadie at the diner after hours that feel like they’re just about getting into a more impactful back and forth, and then, we cut to the next day.

Most of the comedy comes from Surge and his pursuit of the church, or Aunt Rad’s starkly raunchy dialogue. There are moments of comedy with other characters but it feels inconsistent. To me, it felt like there were scenes that felt like they were stamped with a comedy label, while others felt like they avoided them at all costs. This made the film a little hard to figure out. In moments of comedy, levity is added to more dramatic topics, which are then presented more straight forward later on, making the payoff less impactful.

As I mentioned, I think the acting and chemistry is where the film is at its strongest, with a surprisingly effective ending. There is a nice and lengthy conversation between Ivy and Surge, along with a final shot that I found more satisfying than I was expecting. Looking at the runtime close to end, I was worried that it would have a very rushed ending, but I think it does a nice job of concluding the characters.

I also was worried the film was going to come off preachy or even come to a strong conclusion on the other side, I think Holy Irresistible does a pretty good job of riding the line, showing in most cases, we’re all a bit in the wrong.

The technical aspects of the film were also a little tricky for me. I thought that the cinematography and lighting were great, nothing too flashy but some nice lighting at times that didn’t just feel flat comedy lighting. I did think that the colour was inconsistent in scenes, particularly in exterior scenes and conversations.

I’m not sure if it was the screener or the mix but the dialogue was very quiet at times and blasted through the background in others. In saying that, the music is quite nice, along with the ambient sounds.

While Holy Irresistible isn’t for me, I appreciate its effort in tackling so much in a film that could have been completely forgettable. It goes a step beyond films in its genre to have wider conversations about religion and grief, and while I would love those conversations to have been either fleshed out or more focused into the main narrative, I appreciated their inclusion. Director Pamala Corkey says about the film that they “hope it finds those whom it will resonate”, and I think that kind of intention is certainly seen in the heart of the film, where I also hope the audience it sits with, will find it.