On the Town: 'Think Reservoir Dogs meets Memento," said scriptwriter Shane McCabe.
Never Judge a Book, a short film which "sets out to examine our prejudices and beliefs in life", will have its premiere at the Cork International Film Festival next month. The film has also been earmarked for distribution in cinemas around the country early next year.
A private screening - hosted by Tom Kitt TD, Government Chief Whip and Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach - took place in Dublin Castle earlier this week to celebrate the film's completion. Never Judge a Book was one of the five short films funded this year in the annual Short Cuts scheme by the Irish Film Board in conjunction with RTÉ.
According to producer Sasha King, the film's budget was €80,000.
"The whole film is going backwards," said director Jason Forde, from Bray, Co Wicklow. "The end is the beginning. It's about how we perceive people when we first see them."
The film opens with actor Alan Smyth being kicked and threatened with a gun, which is placed in his mouth. The actor wielding the gun is Brendan Dempsey, who's currently in Kansas in the US promoting the film, Waking Ned.
"We are going to show you why this guy has a gun in his mouth," said Forde. "We are meant to think that he is the bad guy. It's an emotional roller-coaster of different perceptions."
Among those at the party were boyband Zoo, made up of David Kaneswaran, Barry Cosgrave, Michael Sammon, Greg Ryan and Eric McCarthy; Breda Cashe, co-producer, with Pat Moylan, of I Keano; and actor and artist Stuart Dunne, who used to play the sinister and terrifying Billy Meehan character in Fair City.
Others at the screening included members of the Never Judge A Book cast, such as Sara James (who plays a hostage), Luke Molloy (who has a small role as a member of a Special Weapons and Tactics team), and Niall Walsh (who plays the role of a sniper).