Irene’s Ghost follows director Iain Cunningham’s search to discover what happened to his mother, Irene, who died when he was three years old.

No one could explain what caused Irene’s death in the late 1970s, only that it was somehow related to Iain’s birth, and that before that, she’d been in good health. After her death, Irene’s family disappeared from Iain’s life. His father never spoke about it and remarried a couple of years later. Irene became a family secret, and no one spoke to Iain about Irene.

Decades later—inspired by the birth of his own daughter—director Iain Cunningham sets out to discover the truth about what happened to Irene, and to break the family silence. What follows is a first person journey which skillfully blends animation and live action to build the story of a lost life.

As he pieces together the story in the present day, Iain encounters new relatives and Irene’s best friend Lynn, and gradually gets to know his mother through the vivid stories they tell. Hand drawn animation mixes memory with childhood fantasy, as Irene’s Ghost powerfully builds a picture of the mother and child bond, and the echoes of a long ago loss that still remain.

What began as an emotional detective story, finds an uplifting ending, opening out into a study of maternal mental illness, family, and female friendship.