Many personal tales of Ireland’s brief civil war (1922 -1 923) have never been recorded, but thanks to this film (fictional), some composite accounts from rural County Cork will be preserved. The drama opens in 1920 with two siblings, Teddy O’Donovan, an IRA man continuing the fight for independence in the wake of the Easter Rising of 1916, with his doctor brother, Damien, joining him after a brutal attack by an occupying British Black and Tan regiment (hardened cases just back from the fronts of WWI). Action-packed shoot-em-ups and ambushes rival any American Western. The violence, including gun battles, a grisly torture scene courtesy of the barking Black and Tans, and executions of an informer and a Big House, Anglo landlord, is neither gratuitous nor graphic; that said, be mindful that this film is not for kids. Set in an Ireland light years distant from the Tiger of today, the movie often takes on a documentary feel, especially during political meetings where hard decision-making educates about the nuts and bolts of funding rebellion. A local Irish court, set up in lieu of the English one, considers punishment of an Irish merchant who was generous to IRA needs, but charged by his neighbors for extorting exorbitant interest on basic commodities. Complexities of this sort, along with vigorous character development and some delightful romance, escalate internal conflicts, large and small. Minimal background music contributes to realism, though bits of traditional instrumental and a cappella songs are inserted at perfect intervals.