On the Edge (2001 film)

On the Edge
Directed by	John Carney
Produced by	Ed Guiney Arthur Lappin Jim Sheridan
Written by	John Carney Daniel James
Starring	Cillian Murphy Tricia Vessey Jonathan Jackson Stephen Rea
Production company	Hell's Kitchen Productions
Distributed by	Universal Focus
Release date	2001 (2001)
Running time	86 minutes
Language	English Irish
Budget	$7,000,000 est

On the Edge is a 2001 Irish film directed by John Carney and starring Cillian Murphy, Tricia Vessey, Jonathan Jackson and Stephen Rea. The dramedy tells the story of a suicidal young man and his stay in a Dublin psychiatric hospital where he meets new friends who greatly impact his life.

Within a space of 24 hours, Jonathan Breech (Murphy) attends his father's funeral, gets high, steals a car, picks up someone else's girlfriend, dumps her on the side of the road and then drives himself off a cliff. Having suffered no more than a broken finger, he is faced with either a spell in prison or a stay in a psychiatric hospital. Donning blinkers and pyjamas, he puts himself into the care of Dr Figure (Rea), making it clear he's there for a holiday and not an evaluation. But as Jonathan reluctantly agrees to attend Dr Figure's therapy sessions, and comes into contact with fellow patients Rachel (Vessey) and Toby (Jackson), he begins to rethink his attitude on life.

Jonathan Breech (Cillian Murphy) is 19 when his father drinks himself to death. After a night with a gram of cocaine, another man's girlfriend and already stolen convertible, he goes to his older brother Mikey's (Paul Hickey) house at five in the morning to get his father's ashes. With the urn in the back seat he then goes on a suicidal drive.

After waking up in a hospital he is given a choice: prison for the stolen car or a mental institution. He chooses the latter. His room there is small and very near barren. Wednesdays are visiting days, when his brother can come. The recreation room has a TV, cards and velcro-tipped throwing darts. Since he is an inpatient he is forced to only wear pajamas as per the health board rules.

He has three group therapy sessions a week with Dr. Figure (Stephen Rea). There, he meets Rachel (Tricia Vessey), Toby (Jonathan Jackson), Nick (Tomás Ó Súilleabháin) and Leslie (Marcella Plunkett). He voices romantic interest in Rachel but leaves the first session early. Rachel follows him to slap him for treating her patronisingly. They begin play boxing, but stop when she accidentally hits his mouth hard and draws blood. Jonathan goes to the restroom to take care of his bloody lip, and Rachel follows him and shows an attraction to blood, smearing it on to her throat and chest. Jonathan is unsettled, but intrigued. He then befriends Toby, who seems to also have a crush on Rachel. One-on-one therapy sessions with Dr. Figure are sarcastic, but he does ask patients to take a pledge not to kill themselves before New Year's Eve.