British Council Logo UK Films Database
Project Detail

Night Train

Synopsis

An old con man is released from jail determined to reform. He just has one more job to do. But from the moment he comes out, Poole is being pursued by a sinister gangland boss to whom he owes money.


Poole finds what he believes is a sanctuary in a suburban house belonging to a domineering old woman, Mrs Mooney, and her emotionally repressed daughter Alice. Here, Poole indulges in a private passion - his huge model train system and he slowly draws Alice into his strange fantasy world.


Their developing love affair is deepened by a mutual need to escape the past. But as the criminal noose is tightened around Poole, he is forced to take flight - with Alice on the real Orient Express. It becomes a journey from romance to nightmare to Venice at carnival time where Poole and Alice are forced to make painful choices between illusion and reality.


Can the con man really rid himself of the habits of the past, even for the love of his life?

Details

Year
1999
Type of project
Features
Running time
92 mins
Format
35mm
Director
John Lynch 1st Feature
Producer
Matthew Payne, Mark Vennis
Director of Photography
Seamus Deasy
Principal cast
John Hurt, Brenda Blethyn
Executive Screen Writer
Aodhan Madden

Genre

Drama

Categories

Fiction

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

Subotica Films Ltd 22 Aungier Street Dublin 2 Ireland Tel: 00 35 31 662 2226 Fax: 00 35 31 662 2227

Sales Company

J&M Entertainment 2 Dorset Square London NW1 6PX Tel: 020 7723 6544 Fax: 020 7724 7541 Email: (name)@jment.com

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

Suggest amendments

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

A young girl is lying on the grass staring up at the sky in front of her house, in the background her mother stands at the front gate of their house looking towards her. Paper Plane

Director: Saoirse Ronan

Year: 2026

When a defiant young girl stages a silent protest, refusing to return home until the disruptive presence of her father is gone, her mother must decide whether to follow her or let her go. Official Selection, Venice International Film Festival - in Competition Orizzonti Corti

Drama Woman Director
A woman in white shirt, in a red corridor looks off camera to the right with a surprised expression. Aurora

Director: Rita Osei

Year: 2024

Aurora, a perimenopausal vampire, is on a quest to kill a habit that won't die! Official Selection 2025, Final Girls Berlin, Germany (International Women's Day screening) Official Selection 2025, Romford Horror Film Festival, Essex Official Selection 2024, Tweetfest, London Official Selection 2024,Unrestricted View Horror Film Festival, London (Opening Night Gala) (Nominated Best Director and Actress Short Film) Official Selection 2024, Haunted House Fear Fest, New York (Winner Best Director, Cinematography, Actress, Supporting Actress in a Drama) Preview screening 2023, 225 Film Club Festival

Black Drama Horror
A Talent For Murder A Talent For Murder

Director: Anton Corbijn

Year: 2026

A mysterious young man from a New York publisher is sent to Switzerland to persuade the renowned writer Patricia Highsmith to write one final instalment of the Ripley anthology. Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2026 - World Premiere

Thriller