Lemonade

Drama

★ Shortlisted by Frances, Jdubs

Programme: Centrepiece
Year: 2026
Runtime: 112 min
Country: Ireland, United Kingdom
Language: English
Premiere: World Premiere

Danny, a kind-hearted teen about to age out of the care system is facing adulthood without family or support. After a turbulent childhood and separation from his younger brother, Danny is determined to build a future - but one reckless mistake puts him at risk of prison. As his 18th birthday approaches, Josh - his former social worker and the only adult who ever believed in him - returns, offering guidance when Danny needs it most. With new love, big dreams, and overwhelming challenges, Danny must choose whether to repeat the cycle of his past or fight for the life he deserves.

From the TIFF programme

Lewis Brophy delivers a breakout performance in Kim Bartley’s compassionate debut drama about Irish teen, forced to leave foster care on his 18th birthday, who must find his way in a world that suddenly expects him to be a man.

After years in Ireland’s foster care system, Danny is required by law to leave the home that has been his world. On the day he turns 18, he finds himself alone in a tiny Dublin studio apartment, working an entry-level factory job, and navigating the bewildering freedoms and responsibilities of adulthood. As he struggles to find his footing — and a way back to the younger brother he was forced to leave behind — the reappearance of his former social worker Josh (Barry Keoghan, TIFF ’24’s Bring Them Down and Bird) offers both an unexpected lifeline and a painful reminder that trust, once broken, is never easily rebuilt.

Drawing on a distinguished documentary career, including time spent alongside young people living on society’s margins, writer-director Kim Bartley brings humanity and compassion to her first narrative feature. Yet Lemonade never settles for the conventions of grim social realism.

Instead, Bartley observes Danny tenderly, discovering warmth, humour, romance, and gentle beauty in everyday moments while refusing to define him by the circumstances that have shaped his life. Lewis Brophy is a revelation as Danny, carrying the film with extraordinary authenticity, honesty, and emotional intelligence as he adroitly traverses the fragile threshold between adolescence and adult life. Co-star and executive producer Keoghan is a grounding force as the social worker who knows all too well the challenges Danny faces.

Lemonade is ultimately less about the failures of a system than the resilience and dignity of a young man determined to build a life on his own terms.

JASON RYLE