TIFF 2025 Review: Saipan – “entertaining”

Courtesy of TIFF

In 2002, Ireland was a “Nation consumed by a soap opera.”  So said the media, which also compared the sorrow spreading throughout the country to the passing of Princess Diana.  These are real soundbites from the turmoil surrounding the World Cup that year, one that pitted football star Roy Keane against coach Mick McCarthy in the lead up to the tournament that took place in Japan and South Korea.

Unless you count watching Welcome to Wrexham or Ted Lasso knowing football, you can say I am a bit of a newbie to the sport itself.  Yes, even though I once lived in London just blocks away from QPR stadium.  My home country of Canada qualified for the World Cup in 2022, which would have been the one time I had interest.  So I was unaware of the story of Roy Keane, the formidable midfielder who played for Manchester United and was the pride of the Republic of Ireland’s team.  

Saipan takes place mostly in the Pacific island nation in the weeks leading up to the World Cup. It’s here that the Irish football team is meant to stay and train, acclimating to the time change and environment.  But there is one big problem. The place they are staying isn’t equipped for this.  The Irish Football Association has made no plans.  The pitch is full of rocks, the potential for injury is high, there is no sunscreen, no water bottles and perhaps more importantly, no footballs!

Being part of the elite Manchester United, this is not what Roy Keane (Éanna Hardwicke) is used to.  He pushes back against Mick McCarthy (Steve Coogan), and the manager admits he’s been let down.  Yet the rest of the football team seems to embrace the lack of training to play golf, drink, and have fun at the resort.  Keane isn’t having any of it.  He’s there to win, seemingly one of the only ones taking it seriously. McCarthy, for all that is portrayed in the film, just kind of rolls with it, only increasing the frustration on Keane’s end.  “You shouldn’t be trying your best.  You should be saying, ‘How do I get better?'” Keane tells him.  And then, after things reach a breaking point, the pride of Irish football leaves, days before the World Cup, sending Ireland into a frenzy, dividing the country on where they stand.  Has Keane let his country down, or is the opposite true?

Directors Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn were last at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019 with Ordinary Love, a quietly beautiful story that stars Liam Neeson and Leslie Manville.  So the energetic and sometimes frantic nature of Saipan is certainly a bit of a different challenge for the duo.  Frequent splicing of real media footage (along with some verité style footage of this cast) reminds those of us who need it that Saipan is based on a true story, yet leads to an uneven feel to the film.

Hardwicke and Coogan are perfectly fine in their roles.  Coogan spends a lot of time looking pensive and melancholy while the star of his team is on the offensive.  Hardwicke is the one to watch, especially in the film’s climax, where he takes McCarthy head-on, questioning his ability to manage and even questioning his Irish heritage.  This is perhaps the most compelling part of the film, which brings some interesting politics into the mix.  Yet this perspective is only quickly mentioned and then abandoned.

Screenwriter Paul Fraser, along with the performances of Hardwicke and Coogan, means that we never really are sure how our main characters are to be perceived.  And perhaps this is on purpose.  Certainly, the main villain here is actually the Irish Football Association, which let the team and its star player languish in unsuitable facilities before they had to play.  Yet that’s never really emphasized.  The drama is between player and coach, and in this film, Keane comes out on top because McCarthy is just depicted as being indifferent.  Is this true to life? I’m sure I don’t know, perhaps only the fly on the wall can be sure, but Keane seems to be the only one fighting for his fellow players here.

Saipan is entertaining, even if its style doesn’t always seem cohesive.  Those who know this story may not learn anything new in this film.  Those that don’t will be left wondering how on earth a country that takes football so seriously, that was so excited at the idea of qualifying for the World Cup, could fail their team so drastically.  And also, why did no one else but Keane seem to care?  I get the idea there’s likely more to it than that, but you won’t find it here.  Watching this, I don’t blame Keane for doing what he did.  He seems understandable, not ‘unmanageable’.  Was that who he was? As an outsider to the sport, I’ll never be sure, but intended or not, this is the overall message Saipan delivers.

Saipan had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival September 4, 2025.  For more information head to tiff.net