Glenrothan is Brian Cox‘s (The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim) directorial debut, at the young age of 79, about two estranged brothers, with Sandy (Cox) asking Donal (Alan Cumming – X-Men 2) to return to their hometown, after 40 years away, following a big, family argument at their mother’s funeral, – which will be retold in flashback, later – that got out of hand and caused him to break away and cut off all contact with everyone, including best friend Jess (Shirley Henderson – still looking foxy as ever).
Donal escaped away to Chicago to run his own bar, and while there’s no mention of any woman in his life (okay, this is Alan Cumming), he’s somehow produced a daughter, Amy (Alexandra Shipp – Barbie), who now has her own daughter… and no mention of the father, there.
Oh, and Sasha – pronounced “Sosha” for some reason – is an annoying, precocious brat.
However, with no mention of how, the bar has burned down, so he has no excuse but to make the trip, and soon reminiscing as he arrives at the lake where they used to play as a family.
In the time away, he missed his father’s funeral, although there was no love lost for him, but while Sandy has run the family brewery, Glen Nairn, in the past 40 years, Donal’s childhood bedroom is just as he left it.
Glenrothan is a good film, but very predictable, taking all the safe steps along the way about sibling rivalry, family strife, the roads in life not taken, and similarly to films like Mother’s Pride, it’s a town that no-one ever leaves. They’re content to stay home by day, then go to the pub every night, listening to the same band who strangle a violin while performing traditional songs.
But given how muddy it is outside, why does no-one ever take their bloody shoes off, indoors?
Oh, and prior to this, Amy tells her Dad that she comes out down here every year, but Alan didn’t know she was cum…ming. I’ll get me coat.
NOTE: There’s no mid- nor post-credits scenes as such, but as the end credits begin…
NOTE: There is a post-credits moment as per my video below…
Glenrothan is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order onBlu-ray and DVD.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 97 minutes
Release date: April 17th 2026
Studio: Liongate Films UK
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 7/10
Director: Brian Cox
Producers: Nicholas Crum, Phin Glynn, Neil Zeiger, Vladimir Zemtsov, Crystine Zhang
Screenplay: David Ashton, Jeff Murphy
Cast:
Sandy Nairn: Brian Cox
Donal Nairn: Alan Cumming
Jess: Shirley Henderson
Amy: Alexandra Shipp
Anna McKinley: Nicole Ansari-Cox
May: Joanne Thomson
George: John Ritchie
Kirsty: Jess Douglas-Welsh
Gus: Aidan Redmond
Young Donal: Jacob Ferguson
Young Sandy: Saul Davidson
Sasha: Alexandra Wilkie
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.