When choreographer and director Douglas Reddan returned to his family home in County Clare during the COVID-19 lockdown, he didn’t expect his daily 5km walks to spark a years-long artistic journey. But those quiet rhythms laid the groundwork for Pull Hard a short film that blends movement, memory, and masculinity into a coming-of-age portrait of Irish youth.
Co-created with longtime collaborator Leah Moore, Pull Hard tells the story of Ross, a Leaving Cert student who is the captain of his school hurling team, top of his class and a gifted dancer. As Ross balances athletic expectations with artistic identity, the film explores how young men construct and conceal their inner selves, often under unspoken cultural pressure.
Speaking about the initial inspiration for this project Reddan told the Clare Echo “I remember having this idea on a walk… I remember voice messaging Leah. And I was like, I have this scene and I have this idea. It’s very different to what the film is now. It’s changed quite a lot. But it started as this kind of flow of thoughts.”
Returning to Clare after years of living in Dublin, Reddan began reflecting deeply on his teenage years, not just through memory, but through a new creative lens.
“I think a lot of the stuff that I was experiencing was… almost healing in a way. A lot of things were coming up for me that I maybe left purposely in the past. And I was like, oh, now that I have this lens of creativity on it, maybe this could be something really interesting.”
Douglas Reddan and Leah Moore are the directing duo behind Grandads, a partnership built on artistic trust and years of collaboration. Their previous short films and award-winning work often blend narrative with abstract movement, and Pull Hard continues that tradition.
With Reddan’s background in choreography and visual storytelling, and Moore’s in theatre and performance, their creative chemistry thrives on difference.
“We both just have an understanding of different things in a different way,” Moore explained. “Doug can bring that kind of aesthetic approach and I can come from the actor side and the performance side. And I think we both learn a lot from each other while we’re working together.”
Ross, the film’s protagonist, is a composite of many people Reddan observed growing up including, in part, himself. The story is fiction, but its emotional weight is deeply personal.
“It’s not a secret that this is inspired by experiences that I either had personally or I witnessed in school,” Reddan explained. “Ross feels like inspired by me without it being a true story of my life.”
Ross is popular, accomplished, and outwardly confident, yet vulnerable to the hidden pressures that come with masculinity and growing up.
“No one really gets out of secondary school unmarked,” Reddan said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re the hottest, most popular person or the science guy or the sporty person.”
What makes Ross especially compelling is that he’s neither hero nor victim, he’s part of the very system the film explores.
“He is very much part of the ecosystem. It’s not about putting Ross on a pedestal. He’s not supposed to be this perfect character… He’s part of this world, and adding to it as well. It’s not really about good and bad. It’s messy.”
Casting Pull Hard meant locating rare talent, young actors who could handle both movement and emotional complexity, ideally with West of Ireland roots.
“It was a really difficult process,” Reddan said. “Having people who have a really strong acting background, plus really strong dance skills, plus Irish, plus West of Ireland… It’s like quadruple threat. But no one’s training to be this quadruple threat.”
Ultimately, Levi O’Sullivan was cast as Ross. For the role of Colm, Ross’s close friend, the team selected dancer Ben Keogh, a former student of Reddan’s.
“He blew us away. We knew straight away we definitely wanted [him],” said Moore. “It was an amazing process. The feeling we got when we knew who Ross was and who we knew Colm was, was really, really, really special.”
Shot entirely in County Clare, Pull Hard is not just set in the West of Ireland it’s inspired by it. The sights, sounds, and spirit of the place are integral to the story, and Reddan is visibly moved when speaking about the opportunity to capture it onscreen.
“There was a time where I hated it and I wanted to get as far away as possible,” he said. “But now I’m still trying to find a way to live in Clare. I’m so proud of bringing people down, showing them around. I just feel this joy now. There’s a beauty in showing the place that raised you.”
“It’s full circle. I used to walk down the road and feel stuck here. And now I’m walking those same roads thinking about camera angles.”
None of this would be possible, Reddan insists, without the unwavering support of glór, the Ennis-based theatre and arts centre. Pull Hard is being produced in collaboration with glór and supported by the Arts Council of Ireland but for Reddan, the relationship is much deeper than logistics or funding.
“I used to perform in glór when I was eight and nine. They’re the best. I can’t say it enough.”
As a former Young Curator with glór, a program designed to give emerging artists creative control over curating performance, Reddan credits the centre with giving him space to grow, experiment, and be seen.
“That program opened doors for me that I didn’t even know existed. It gave me confidence. glór has always backed me not just now, but when I was figuring myself out. I honestly say to any artists or creatives from Clare: walk in the door of Glór. Just get involved.”
Both directors have expressed immense gratitude for the support they’ve received from the centre.
“We wouldn’t be making this film without them,” said Moore. “They’ve been with us the whole way.”
The Pull Hard team is currently putting out a call for local extras, particularly teenagers, dancers, and hurlers aged 16 and up. Anyone interested in getting involved can email madebygrandads@gmail.com.
While the directors are focused on completing the short film, they’re also hopeful that it will travel through festivals, community screenings, and conversations.
“It’s a story that’s deeply personal, but also incredibly universal,” said Moore. “We hope people see themselves in it.”
