Silent Roar's stars on the new ‘surfing, sex and hellfire’ movie made in the Outer Hebrides

Johnny Barrington’s feature debut will open the Edinburgh International Film Festival

It is the new Scottish comedy-drama set to cast the relationship between religion and the Outer Hebrides in a whole new light.

Billed as “a teenage tale of surfing, sex and hellfire,” Silent Roar was filmed entirely on the Isle of Lewis, where the influence of the church is still so strongly felt that most shops, cafes and pubs are closed on Sundays.

Religious belief and grief are at the heart of the coming-of-age movie which has been chosen to open the Edinburgh International Film Festival on Friday.

Louis McCartney and Ella Lily Hyland star in Silent Roar, which will open this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Silent Roar is the feature debut of writer and director Johnny Barrington, who was born on the Isle of Skye.

He joined forces with producer Chris Young, who relocated his company from London to Skye after enjoying huge success with The Inbetweeners, to make Silent Roar, the first major for co-stars Louis McCartney and Ella Lily Hyland, who hail from Northern Ireland and Ireland respectively.

Barrington’s film was shot almost entirely in the community of Uig, on the rugged Atlantic coast of Lewis, with much of the action taking place on its beaches or in the water.

Inspired by Barrington’s loss of his own father, Silent Roar focuses on the awkward and intense relationship between teenage surfer Sas, who has been unable to accept the loss of his fisherman father at sea, and Sas, a rebellious girl from school with her heart set on leaving the island behind.

Louis McCartney and Ella Lily Hyland star in Silent Roar. Picture: Ali Tollervey

The spark which brings the pair together is lit by the arrival in the close-knit community of a maverick preacher who has brought a ruined church.

Speaking on set during Silent Roar’s shoot, McCartney, whose first screen role was in Game of Thrones, says: “Dondo is a troubled young man and he is trying to cope and deal with the grief of the loss of his father on a daily basis.

“He has been living in a very tight-knight, close, contained environment. Experiencing an unbelievable loss at such a vulnerable loss, he goes into a state of denial. He can’t come to terms at all with the loss of his father.

“He has taken a year off school. His mum thought it would help him process things but it hasn’t worked.“

Silent Road star Louis McCartney preparing for filming to begin on the Isle of Lewis.

Hyland, who recently came to prominence with her lead role as a former teenage tennis prodigy in new Amazon drama Fifteen-Love, says: “Sas she is in a very transitional phase between adolescence and adulthood, when you are confused and there is so much change going on.

“She is curious and inquisitive, constantly provoking and asking questions. That gets her into trouble sometimes, whether questioning the system at school, at church or with her parents. She has moments where she is angry at the world and is kind of coming to terms with her own belief system. She’s definitely on a spiritual path, but she questions religion and the way she has been taught.

“Dondo has opened himself up to religion and spirituality. He dives right in. She can’t understand why he has taken to religion so much. That’s kind of their juxtaposition to each other.”

McCartney describes the relationship between two teenagers as “weird.”

Johnny Barrington is the writer-director of Silent Roar.

He said: “She is very open to the world, while he is quite closed. She is like a catalyst for him. There is a push and pull between them throughout the film. It’s interesting for her to watch him change.”

Hyland adds: “Sas and Dondo land in each other’s sphere of consciousness at a really delicate time. They ignite something in each other.

“They are polar opposites. There’s something kind of wonky and awkward about their relationship. She is very drawn to him and he is very drawn to her. They are maybe not entirely sure why. They just land together and find themselves opening up to each other.”

Mark Lockyer, who plays Paddy, the new religious figure in the island community, says: “He is enigmatic, he is a charmer and is also a kind of spiritual jester or tinker. Paddy is essentially a poet. He is a lyrical kind of bloke. He is a man of the earth and the stars. He is funny and engaging, and has a way with people.

"With his life experience, he encourages Dondo to accept his father’s death, and encourages Sas to embrace her own individuality and get away from the island. They are on the edge of adulthood and trying to come to terms with growing up. Paddy helps them both in different ways."

Hyland adds: “Paddy's influence acts as such a catalyst for Dondo and Sas. He is an outsider, but so are Dondo and Sas in their own way and he is very enigmatic. Paddy almost stands in the middle between Dondo and Sas. Sas is intrigued by him but also sceptical of him. ”

Actor Louis McCartney, producer Chris Young, actor Ella Lily Hyland and writer-director Johnny Barrington on the Isle of Lewis ahead of filming starting next week.

McCartney says: “When he meets Paddy, Dondo turns to the church for comfort. He picks up Christianity like a hobby. He switches almost immediately from being a surf but. He thinks that is the path to find his dad and bring him back and that anyone who tells him otherwise is wrong. He goes on a journey from denial to acceptance.”

Silent Roar was shot over the space of six weeks in the autumn of 2021, with the cast and crew grappling with the unpredictable Hebridean weather.

Hyland says: “It’s been sunny on some days and stormy on others. But we’ve all been in it together, getting soaked and windswept.

“The landscape is just magical. There’s such a special energy from this island. It is just stunning. The water is so clear and it is like everywhere has a view. I was a bit like: “Should I just move here?”

"There is such a sense of community here. It feels like the whole island has come together to make the film.”

McCartney adds: “It's been pretty magical. There have been moments when we stopped filming, you looked around the landscape and just thought: ‘This is just insane.’

“The locations have definitely aided to the overall atmosphere of the film.”