In the interest of full disclosure I will openly admit that this movie would not have been on my radar if Stana Katic was not in the lead role.
That said, `The Truth About Kerry' is a small independent movie which centres on Kerry (Jessica Margaret Dean), an American girl, who travels on vacation to Ireland with her boyfriend only to end up dead on a beach a few weeks later.
Haunted by dreams and visions Emma (Stana Katic, Castle and For Lovers Only) is compelled to travel to the remote fishing village to try and unravel the mystery of her friend Kerry's demise. Initially Emma is met with silence as the locals seem reluctant to discuss the matter and the local Garda are less than helpful. Emma is befriended by Joseph (Paul Hardiman), the barkeeper and Seamus (Tommy Fitzgerald) a local lad and with their help she tries to piece together exactly what happened in the run up to Kerry's tragic death.
Emma comes to the conclusion that Patrick (Darren Keefe), the guy Kerry and her boyfriend struck up a relationship with on their visit, could somehow be involved in her death. It is only during an emotional argument that Emma comes to the self realisation as to what she believes happened to Kerry. I don't want to say too much more as it would simply reveal the ending, no spoilers here, you'll have to watch for yourself to find out.
The movie provides lots of beautiful Irish scenery and was actually shot in Ballinskelligs Bay in County Kerry. There is also a haunting score by Ciaran Hope and some lovely Celtic flavoured songs, notably `Cry for the Last Time' by Marina V.
As for the DVD itself, the picture at times is a little grainy (not a criticism, full disclosure remember) but let's face it this isn't a multi-million dollar big budget Hollywood affair and it will in no way distract from you enjoyment. There are 3 featurettes in the DVD extras, a music video and the trailer. There is also a commentary provided by Katie Torpey (Director) and Jessica Margaret Dean (Kerry).
All in all this was an enjoyable mystery/thriller and while this was Stana Katic's first lead role in feature film and she acquits herself very well indeed, having said that she is always watchable no matter what role she takes on. Everyone has to start somewhere but this early in her career in is easy to see that Stana was a star in the making. Castle fans will get a kick out of the scenes where Stana appears to be in full `Beckett' mode piecing together the facts and creating a `murder board'. Stanatics, and you know who you are, could do worse than to add this DVD to your collection.
I must mention that during the run up to release I read a lot of cynical comments online and on Twitter regarding the fact that the producers only waited until Stana Katic was a big star to release the movie. To his credit, Shaun O'Sullivan, the producer, made himself available for a couple of Q&A sessions on Twitter and based on his answers the simple truth is that while the film was shot in late 2004 the budget at the time only covered principle photography. It took a further 5 years to raise the money to finish post production. The movie was completed late 2010 and a distribution deal was put in place in 2011 with the release date set as 2012.