Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
In the 1970s, a young transgender woman called “Kitten” leaves her small Irish town for London in search of love, acceptance, and her long-lost mother.
Breakfast on Pluto is a picaresque, episodic journey anchored by Cillian Murphy's extraordinary, magnetic performance as Kitten — one of the most distinctive screen presences of the 2000s. The film's novelty is genuinely high: Neil Jordan's audacious, chapter-based structure, its irreverent blending of tragedy and whimsy against the backdrop of IRA-era violence, and its unapologetically flamboyant tone make it a singular work. The plot, however, is deliberately episodic and somewhat meandering, which suits the picaresque form but leaves certain threads underdeveloped. Cinematography is handsome and period-appropriate without being especially distinctive. The ending is warm and emotionally satisfying but leans into sentiment rather than surprise, landing as touching rather than truly resonant.