CAN'T COPE, MUST COPE (WILDFIRE)
Others have simply exploited the Troubles, using it as a hook to hang otherwise conventional thrillers or action movies on.
The bulk of Troubles movies, good or bad, have, however, been directed by men.
Neil Jordan, Jim Sheridan, Ken Loach, Paul Greengrass, Steve McQueen, Pat O'Connor, Oliver Hirschbiegel, Yann Demage, Terry George, Thaddeus O'Sullivan and James Marsh are among those who have seriously attempted to understand the conflict with fictional stories or by recreating actual events.
Lisa Barros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburm's 'Good Vibrations' took a different tack - looking at one man's attempt to help Belfast rise above the bloodshed through the uplifting spirit of punk music.
Pat Murphy is another rare example of a woman director who tackled the conflict head on with the 1981 movie 'Maeve' - a sombre tale about a student's return from London to her native Belfast.
Murphy's film shone a light on the macho posturing and deep rooted sexism that characterised the city at the time - a city which was at war with itself.
Now Cathy Brady has entered the arena with 'Wildfire' - a post-conflict tale about a family scarred by the Troubles.
Like 'Maeve,' 'Wildfire' begins with a sister returning to her hometown - this time a town along the border.
However before she launches into her dark tale, Brady sets out the context with a montage of news footage of rioting, bombing, a Protestant Orange Order march, the IRA ceasefire being celebrated, the Good Friday Agreement being forged and the impact of Brexit.
Nika McGuigan's Kelly returns on a boat crossing the Irish Sea after a year in the wilderness.
It's not quite an absence on the scale of Harry Dean Stanton's Travis at the start of Wim Wenders' 'Paris, Texas' but like him, it is clear Kelly is damaged.
Kelly has a certain feral quality to her which we first see as she slips into a cabin and devours someone else's meal while glancing over her shoulder.
Upon disembarking, she hitches a ride to her hometown and after being spooked by a wild animal as she sits by the side of the road in the dead of night, she turns up on the doorstep of her sister, Nora-Jane Noone's Lauren and her partner, Martin McCann's Sean.
Lauren is working in an Amazon style warehouse distributing packages.
She is stunned to learn of Kelly's return and is initially seething about her sister turning up one year after vanishing with no explanation.
Such is her resentment, it is not clear if the sisters will bridge the rift between them.
However a childhood cassette of them pretending to be radio presenters unearthed by Kelly soon breaks the ice.
As Lauren reconciles with her sister, Sean and Kate Dickie's sharp tongued aunt Veronica become more uncomfortable.
Lauren and Kelly were once inseparable as kids but it becomes apparent that have been scarred by two childhood traumas - particularly the loss of their mum.
Nevertheless Kelly's erratic behaviour grates with Sean.
An impulsive decision to dig up his back garden and create a vegetable plot results in him snapping and ordering that it be restored to what it was.
Sean increasingly sees Kelly as a malign influence on the more reserved Lauren, whose behaviour also starts to change.
Lauren quits her job after a confrontation with a co-worker for laughing at a social media post about her sister.
The town they inhabit feels mean spirited and lacking in empathy about the double tragedy that has scarred their lives - we often see locals dismissing Kelly as an oddball.
However as the bond between the sisters deepens, we see a memorably wild dance in a hotel bar to Van Morrison and Them's 'Gloria' before they get into a bitter spat with two middle aged men - one of whom has a paramilitary past.
Will Kelly and Lauren manage to confront the impact of their parents' tragic deaths?
Will they properly heal?
Brady, who wrote the script too, has crafted a crafty, yet intense movie about people struggling with trauma.
It's not hard to see what the film is driving at - particularly its relevance to the Northern Ireland of today.
Like Lauren and Kelly, thousands of people's lives in the province have been ruined by tragedy and violence - many are still wrestling with the demons that the Troubles have conjured.
However the society they live in seems at times quite oblivious and uncaring about their suffering and unwilling to face up to the deep seated trauma inflicted by the conflict.
Using the sisters' struggle with the past as an allegory, Brady proves to be adept as a director, often allowing images to do the talking and gradually revealing the details of the tragedies that have devastated the family.
With both sisters dressing similarly as the movie wears on in striking blood red coats, we are reminded of the figure that haunted Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland's grieving couple in Nic Roeg's 'Don't Look Now'.
The sometimes surreal feel of the border setting also recalls Neil Jordan's compelling debut 'Angel,' a revenge thriller in which Stephen Rea's saxophonist is traumatised by an act of violence he witnessed.
It is these atmospheric flourishes that undoubtedly landed Brady an Irish Film and Television Award recently for Best Director and she works particularly well with her cinematographer, Crystel Fournier.
McGuigan, who sadly is no longer with us after passing away in July 2019 following a battle with colon cancer, turns in a compelling performance as Kelly which also deservedly netted her an IFTA for Best Actress.
Best known for her work on RTE's 'Can't Cope, Won't Cope' with Seana Kerslake and with Brady who directed the sitcom, her astute performance as Kelly only adds to the sense of pain and loss that pervades the film.
Noone is equally impressive, gradually tearing down Lauren's calm exterior to reveal something untamed.
McCann turns in another intelligent performance as Sean, generously giving his two leads the time and space to convey their characters' grief.
There are effective supporting turns too from Dickie, Amanda Hurwitz and Helen Behan as Lauren's co-workers and David Pearse as the middle aged man with a past who explodes during a confrontation with the sisters in the bar.
And while the mood of the film may be too morose and raw for some audiences, particularly those who have had to bear the pain of losing a loved one during the Troubles, there is no doubt 'Wildfire' announces Brady as a major filmmaking talent.
How she follows up 'Wildfire' on the big screen will be fascinating.
('Wildfire' opened in cinemas in the UK and Ireland on September 3, 2021)
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