Things couldn’t get any worse for Mark and his best buddy Pierce, two creative but destitute souls living in a rundown flat... that is until a series of extremely ill-timed mishaps result in a growing body count. Far-fetched? Check. Grotesque? Double check.

The harrowing and wicked humor in this pitch black comedy is a squirm-inducing delight from start to finish. In the way that only an Irish story can, director Ian Fitzgibbon’s A Film with Me in It somehow hits the perfect bittersweet balance, drawing the audience in and allowing them to fully experience each brief victory and spirit-crushing defeat.

For those who have somehow missed out on Alexander Mackendrick’s homicidal classic The Ladykillers (1955), the mortal mishaps in A Film with Me in It will seem particularly horrific. If The Ladykillers-- starring the late, great Alec Guinness and comic genius Peter Sellers-- is the quintessential English black comedy, then A Film with Me in It could very well qualify as Ireland’s premier (not to mention blackest) black comedy.

While Ireland’s comparatively small film industry is still picking up steam, the Irish are no strangers to black humor. I found the comedic sensibilities of A Film with Me in It particularly reminiscent of Stephen Frears’ adaptation of The Snapper (1993), one third of Roddy Doyle’s Barrytown Trilogy. Hopefully, the tiny isle’s preeminent literary tradition will someday be coupled with an equally sterling filmic one, as Fitzgibbon’s film is a praiseworthy new edition to the ‘modern classics’ roster.

As the hangdog-underdog, struggling actor, Mark just can’t catch a break. Mark Doherty (who also wrote the screenplay) plays Mark, an Irish actor whose circumstances are made all the more desperate by the fact that he’s struggling in Ireland. As if fishing in such a small pond wasn’t difficult enough, Mark’s less than hunky features and boney physique aren’t helping things. These difficulties are made plain by Neil Jordan in his perfectly underplayed cameo as a bored casting director. The rest of the film’s small cast is rounded out by unassuming character actors and one more cameo (hunky Irish actor takes break from Hollywood fare), which I won’t spoil.

In a comedy this dark, every laugh counts and it is Fitzgibbon’s biggest casting gamble (comedian Dylan Moran in a lead role) that ends up hitting the jackpot. As Mark’s drunken screenwriter/bounder of a best friend and upstairs neighbor, Moran is responsible for providing nearly all of the film’s comic relief. Casting a stand-up in this meaty and pivotal role took guts, but Moran (as Pierce) really sinks his teeth in and ends up stealing the show.

Besides being well-written and superbly cast, Fitzgibbon’s attention to detail shines through in other areas. From the distinctive and fitting musical score, to the suspense-building cinematography that recalls images and angles straight out of Repulsion (1965), the film builds an impressive amount of tension in its taught 88 minute running time.

Self-referential and smart, Fitzgibbon has created something more than a simple cinephile flick or pastiche. The film is a reflexive satire that dabbles in farcical morbidity... but not without Pierce reminding us that “nobody does farce anymore”. A Film with Me in It cleverly balances extremes, somehow both heart-warming and bone chilling at the same time. Throw in Doherty’s snappy dialogue and Moran’s perfect comedic timing, and A Film with Me in It can’t miss.