Trafficked is writer/director Ciaran O’Connor’s uncompromising underworld thriller exploring the bleak world of human trafficking. The film stars the effortlessly gorgeous Ruth Negga as Taiwo, a young woman brought into Ireland by crime boss McManus. Upon entering Dublin Taiwo escapes the clutches of her captors and naively entrusts her live to the owner of a local B&B, who, unsurprisingly, doesn’t care all that much.

Taiwo dreams of freedom and a new life for herself and her twin sister, who she hopes will soon follow her. Robbed and broken she is befriended by Keely (Karl Sheils), a misguided Dubliner, who just happens to be the very man who robbed her. Confusing? Maybe, but we get the feeling that Keely’s motives are even a mystery to Keely.

Keely takes Taiwo in, gives her a bed and finds her a new job, which is nice. The job is with local sleaze-ball Tony and does however lead her back into Dublin’s seedy underbelly of sex trafficking and prostitution.

We are unsure of whether Keely is just very stupid or genuinely well-meaning. Thankfully, this becomes clearer towards the end of the film. Keely undergoes a major transformation here, going from aggressive crook to unlucky hero. Taiwo has, as she says “entered the world of an unlikely hero.”

Taiwo’s ‘owners’ eventually want her back and she is caught in the tug-of-war which ensues. The relationship between Keely and Taiwo is strained and functions as much on mutual exploitation as on mutual affection.

The visual sense of culture shock is put forward effortlessly and some magical performances from both Negga and Shiels light up the screen. When they are on screen together there is an electricity which is somewhat lacking in other, darker moments of the film. Shiels is tasked with the responsibility of bringing humour into such a bleak world, and he pulls it off.

Unexpected chuckles inevitably fall from the audience’s lips when a scared-looking Taiwo is asked in Abrekebabra “SPEAKA DA ENGLISH?! PARLEZ VOUS FRENCH?”, and maybe even some loud guffaws when Keely calls her “Tayto”.

Taiwo’s need to have her sister join her in Dublin becomes the driving force of the film. She says that she would give her last breath to bring her to a land where she will be free to dream. The most heart-breaking thing here is this notion of dreaming. Taiwo’s letters to her sister are a major underlying thread and, in them, dreams are never far from Taiwo’s mind or pen. O’Connor visually portrays this notion beautifully.

As cherry blossoms drift through the breeze and into her hair, it’s hard not to feel the agonising knowledge that dreaming may just be all that is available to her in this world. That is the true genius of O’Connor’s work. We don’t just see this struggle; we feel it and are deeply engaged and tangled up within it. Trafficked is in cinemas across the country now and is definitely not to be missed.

Ciara O’Brien