It’s 1996, a simpler time before cell phones and social media. Not a lot happens in the small the Scottish Highlands town of Fort William, so when a submarine arrives at the port, the girls at Our Lady of Perpetual Succor Catholic High School—where the unofficial school motto is “Bottoms Up, Knickers Down”—get excited at the prospect of sailors coming into town. However, first they have a field trip to go to—a choir competition in Edinburgh—but their focus is less on the competition, and more on the chance to spend some time in the city, drinking, partying and possibly hooking up with some guys.
Orla (Tallulah Greive) recently returned from Lourdes, where she was treated for Leukemia, and had a miracle recovery. Now she is eager to lose her virginity, and aims to find a guy on this trip. Kylah (Marli Siu) is the lead singer of a rock band with boyfriend Dickie Dickinson (Alex Hope), but she is starting to have second thoughts about both. Chell (Rona Morison) comes from a poor family—her father was a fisherman who drowned when she was young, and she still gets angry when people call her a “tinker”. Manda (Sally Messham) is a bit of a wild child who likes to smoke and drink, taking after her older sister Catriona (Megan Shandley). She and Finnoula (Abigail Lawrie) have been best friends all their lives, but seem to suddenly be drifting apart. Fin and the other girls enjoy picking on classmate/head girl Kay (Eve Austin), who they look down on for being rich and smart. If there’s anyone who has a chance of finding a way out of this dead-end town, it’s Kay, and they’re jealous of that. Supervising the girls on the field trip is choir leader Sister Condron (Kate Dickie), who the girls refer to as “Sister Condom” behind her back. Despite her trying to hide it, this nun is definitely repressed and constantly turned on by the slightest suggestion of anything sex-related.
Almost immediately upon their arrival, the girls ditch their uniforms and head into the city in search of booze, guys and other more-personal ventures. They split up and head off to different parts of the city, agreeing to meet up for karaoke, before heading back for the choir competition. Orla and Manda head off to shop for clothes, Kylah and Chell to buy records, and Fin to a bar, where she runs into Kay. The film follows the separate and intersecting stories of the girls as they spend the day in the city—testing their existing friendship, forging new relationships, making decisions about their futures, and learning new things about themselves and the others. Amongst this journey of self-discovery, the girls do lots of drinking, get into some wild situations, and meet some very unusual folks, including a not-so-helpful cop, a horny older man and his recently-divorced friend who isn’t quite over his ex-wife, an odd mystery man with a speech impediment, and an actual nice guy (Martin Quinn).
Our Ladies has some hilarious moments, but is also at times a really emotional and engaging coming-of-age drama. It’s really interesting to see how this one day changes the dynamic of the group’s friendships. As the film opens, the girls seem like just a bunch of crass young ladies looking to get drunk and laid, but over the course of the trip several of them make some life-changing revelations, while the others remain pretty much the same. The crux of the film takes place over a single wild and action-packed day, but there are also some flashbacks to younger versions of the ladies as Orla provides the viewer with each of the girls’ backstories. The chemistry between the girls is fantastic—it feels so real, and the way they pick on each other feels so natural, like these girls have truly known one another all their lives. They’ve all been in this town long enough to know all the gossip, know which of their classmates have ended up teen moms, and have so many crazy stories to tell. It’s just so much fun hanging out with these girls on their wild adventures in the city.
Sony’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds great. The picture is clean and detailed, with a nice color palette that showcases the beauty of the countryside of the Scottish Highlands, as well as the busier city of Edinburgh. The filmmakers have done a nice job of transporting the viewer back to the late 1990s, capturing the look and feel of the era. The audio track provides clear dialogue (well, as clear as it could be with those accents!) and makes nice use of the stereo and surround channels to add the general ambiance of the city, and showcase the film’s soundtrack and choir performances. The Blu-ray disc resides in a standard HD keepcase without a slipcover. The barebones release does not include any bonus material or a digital copy.
What’s Included:
Film: (1:45:51)
- 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
- Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA
- Subtitles: English, English SDH, French
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Blu-ray:
Extras:
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This release includes no bonus material.
Final Thoughts:
Our Ladies is a really fun film that had me laughing out loud quite a bit. It has some wacky and wild characters who have such great chemistry together that you just want to hang out with this group of friends and enjoy the city with them. At the same time, I found the story surprisingly compelling and emotional, getting me quite invested in the characters and their futures. While Sony’s release features solid picture and sound, it unfortunately is bare-bones, with no bonus material or digital copy. That said, the film is definitely worth a look, either on disc or digital, whichever is on sale.
