Three Deaf couples share their powerful love stories through Irish Sign Language in Ireland’s first ISL feature film, directed by Garry Keane. A moving celebration of resilience and connection, told with an immersive soundscape by a Deaf and hearing team.
A Quiet Love is more than a documentary. It is a window into a world often overlooked—a world communicated through movement, expression, and shared understanding, where love speaks in gestures and silence speaks volumes. Directed by Garry Keane, known for previous works like Gaza and In the Shadow of Beirut, this feature-length film is Ireland’s first full-length film made in Irish Sign Language. It is also a cinematic achievement that offers both education and emotional resonance.
Told through the intertwined stories of three Deaf couples, the film stretches across generations, cities, and cultural divides. Though each story is distinct, they are united by common threads—love, identity, and the everyday courage of those living within the Deaf community.
The film’s structure alternates between these stories, each moving forward in time while building a collective portrait of Deaf life over the last seventy years. We begin with the oldest couple, John and Agnes, who met as teenagers during one of Ireland’s most violent and divided eras: the Northern Ireland "Troubles". Coming from Catholic and Protestant backgrounds respectively, they should have been enemies by societal standards. But at the only Deaf school available, religious division was irrelevant. There, John and Agnes discovered both each other and a way to communicate through sign language, despite initially speaking different dialects—Agnes taught John British Sign Language. Their love endured war, displacement, and decades of change, evolving into a steadfast companionship that anchors the film.
Their story is the heart of A Quiet Love, brought to life through sensitive re-enactments and archival footage. These scenes are quietly powerful, conveying the intimacy of young love amid the chaos of conflict. Importantly, they also highlight the rich diversity within Deaf culture—different sign languages, regional slang, and evolving communication norms. For audiences unfamiliar with Deaf history in Ireland, this part of the film provides an invaluable social context.
Next, we are introduced to Kathy and Michelle, a Deaf LGBTQ+ couple living in London. Their storyline broadens the scope of the documentary by touching on family, identity, and medical ethics. Both women decide to carry children, raising a mixed family of hearing and Deaf children. The film doesn't shy away from the challenges—particularly the divisive topic of cochlear implants. For many in the Deaf community, these devices are seen not as medical miracles, but as threats to cultural identity, a “Deaf erasure” of sorts. Kathy and Michelle navigate these questions with compassion and clarity, offering a modern take on what it means to live and love as a Deaf family today.
Their relationship also introduces another important layer—queerness in the Deaf community. In showing their lives, the film avoids tokenism and instead treats their journey with respect, portraying them not as exceptions but as one of many ways to exist and thrive in the Deaf world.
Finally, we meet Seán and Deyanna, a couple facing an extraordinary personal dilemma. Seán, a former addict who found purpose in boxing, is Deaf but uses a cochlear implant. His dream to become a professional boxer is thwarted because the implant disqualifies him for a professional license. The solution? Remove it—permanently—and lose what little hearing he has. With Deyanna, a hearing partner, and a child to care for, Seán’s decision is painful. His story is less about disability and more about ambition, and how systems are not always designed with Deaf bodies or aspirations in mind.
What makes A Quiet Love exceptional is not just its subject matter but how it is presented. The cinematography is clean and understated, allowing the stories to shine without embellishment. Subtitles, usually treated as afterthoughts in mainstream media, are here thoughtfully designed and positioned. Often, they appear near the speakers’ hands or faces, maintaining eye contact and preserving the natural rhythm of sign language communication. While some viewers may find the subtitles hard to read in low-contrast scenes, the overall effect is elegant and immersive.
The sound design, too, deserves praise. Since the spoken word is largely absent, what fills the silence becomes meaningful. Music is used sparingly and effectively, often aligning with the characters’ relationship to sound—cutting in or out when an implant is removed or applied. This invites viewers to experience hearing as something variable, not taken for granted.
The film is also deeply emotional without veering into sentimentality. It does not portray Deaf people as objects of pity, nor does it overly romanticise their struggles. Instead, it presents its subjects as full people: passionate, complex, funny, frustrated, determined. There is sadness, yes—but also joy, intimacy, and moments of humour.
By the time the credits roll, A Quiet Love leaves a lasting impression. It expands our understanding of what Deafness is—not a limitation, but a rich, varied experience. It urges us to consider that just as hearing people are diverse in language, culture, and love, so too are the Deaf community. They form families, chase dreams, face discrimination, and find their own ways to navigate life.
In doing so, A Quiet Love succeeds not only as a film but as a vital cultural document. It invites both hearing and Deaf audiences into the lived experience of others—not through lectures or statistics, but through the universal power of love.
Directed by Garry Keane | 95 mins | Ireland | English, Irish Sign Language | World Premiere – Being Oneself Category
Screening at the Doc Edge documentary festival, in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and online from 25 June.