Death of a Ladies' Man

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Death of a Ladies' Man

2020

1h 41m

Drama

Comedy

Fantasy

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Popcornmeter

88%

Tomatometer

24 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Samuel O'Shea, a university professor of poetry, exuberant womanizer and enthusiastic drinker has seen better days. His second marriage is ending, and his wife and children are at their wits' end with him. More disturbingly, he has begun seeing things: Frankenstein sidles up to the bar and strangers sing and dance to Leonard Cohen tunes. His much missed father, who died when Samuel was just a boy, pops up for chats. At first Samuel thinks it could be the drink, or perhaps he's just crazy or over-imaginative, but then learns he has a brain tumor. Reflecting on the life he has lived, Samuel retreats to his family shack in remote Ireland, where he begins work on that great novel he always meant to write, and generally take stock. Surprisingly, or not, he meets and falls in love with a local woman, who is full of unexpected ideas. All this leads Samuel to an utterly unforeseeable happy ending.

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Critics Consensus

Death of a Ladies' Man greatly elevates its small-scale narrative with Gabriel Byrne's darkly magnetic turn, offbeat humor, and an absorbing musical backdrop of Leonard Cohen songs.

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Cath Clarke

Guardian

Jul 18, 2022

3/5

It’s an insubstantial little film with slimly conceived characters, but Byrne adds at least 10 points to its IQ score and makes it twice as watchable.

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David Stratton

The Australian

May 24, 2021

3.5/5

The screenplay, by director Matthew Bissonnette, is leavened with flashes of curious humour - like the assertion that the Canadian National Anthem is Cohen's Bird on a Wire.

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Sandra Hall

Sydney Morning Herald

May 19, 2021

4/5

Byrne's most remarkable achievement lies in the fact he never allows Samuel's incurable self-absorption to become boring.

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Erik Childress

Movie Madness Podcast

Oct 23, 2025

2/4

Is the lead character interesting enough to revisit a past full of debauchery with some magical realism? The answer is not really and the ending is a betrayal of having made its audience to sit through his attempt at redemption.

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Don Shanahan

Film Obsessive

Oct 4, 2025

3/5

What could have been a morose, listless slog about a bitter whiner is energized into something of a soul-stirring seance in many layers and moments.

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Stefan Pape

Common Sense Media

Sep 30, 2025

3/5

This offbeat drama relies heavily on Byrne's central performance.

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Matt Bissonnette

Director

Gabriel Byrne

Samuel O'Shea

Jessica Paré

Charlotte

Brian Gleeson

Ben O'Shea

Antoine Olivier Pilon

Layton Gagnon-O'Shea

Karelle Tremblay

Josée Gagnon-O'Shea

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Synopsis

Samuel O'Shea, a university professor of poetry, exuberant womanizer and enthusiastic drinker has seen better days. His second marriage is ending, and his wife and children are at their wits' end with him. More disturbingly, he has begun seeing things: Frankenstein sidles up to the bar and strangers sing and dance to Leonard Cohen tunes. His much missed father, who died when Samuel was just a boy, pops up for chats. At first Samuel thinks it could be the drink, or perhaps he's just crazy or over-imaginative, but then learns he has a brain tumor. Reflecting on the life he has lived, Samuel retreats to his family shack in remote Ireland, where he begins work on that great novel he always meant to write, and generally take stock. Surprisingly, or not, he meets and falls in love with a local woman, who is full of unexpected ideas. All this leads Samuel to an utterly unforeseeable happy ending.

Director: Matt Bissonnette
Producer: Don Carmody, Corey Marr, Martina Niland, Marie-Claude Poulin, Aleksandr Kushaev
Screenwriter: Matt Bissonnette
Distributor: Buffalo 8
Production Co: Don Carmody Productions, Corey Marr Productions Inc., Port Pictures
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 5, 2025
Runtime: 1h 41m
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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