Based on a best-selling novel by Patrick McCabe, The Butcher Boy is set in a small Irish town in the 1960s. Young Francie Brady (Owens) is a boy with a fertile imagination. He listens to the adults as they argue the ways of the world, in particular the Cuban missile crisis. Coming from a dysfunctional family (his father is an alcoholic, his mother is a suicidal manic-depressive), Francie is closest to his school chum Joe. Life is best for him when they act out the cowboy and Indian games based on what they've read in comic books. Living with a drunken father (Stephen Rea) and a mother (Aisling O'Sullivan), who is forever preparing cakes for the imminent arrival of 'Uncle Alo' from London, does not deter the cheerful lad. Life gets cruel, however, and he loses his father, mother and friend, which leaves him insecure and threatened by his adult surroundings. In order to get his own back on the world, he violently takes his anger out on a snobbish neighbor (Shaw) who won't let her son play with him. This is an inventive and disturbing portrayal of a deranged mind which benefits from a strong central performance by Owens. Sinead O'Connor is ironically cast as the Virgin Mary in one of the film's apparition sequences.

Laura (Horrocks) is a painfully shy young girl who fades into the background as the daughter of the raucous Mari (Blethyn). It is only when alone in her room, with her treasured collection of her dead father's old records, that she can shine. Laura, nicknamed Little Voice for her timid speaking tones, is a singer of great spirit and can exactly mimic big hits by Shirley Bassey, Judy Garland and Billie Holiday. Her impressions are so good that you'd swear she was lip-synching, but you'd be wrong. Horrocks sings all her own songs and is most definitely the best thing in this movie.

Unfortunately, the rest of the film is mediocre at best, with Mari's current boyfriend (Caine) trying to bully Laura into performing in clubs. The idea horrifies Laura, with her innate fear of strangers and her emotionally troubled personality. A struggle for her loyalty begins, complicated by her developing romance with Billy (McGregor), an equally shy and simple telephone linesman. Can the Little Voice break through and find freedom and security just in being herself?

Although amusing in parts, Little Voice is not a great film. The 'good' characters are too sketchy and shallow to engage the audience's sympathy, while the others are simply annoying. However, Horrocks' musical performances are truly awe-inspiring and the movie is well worth seeing for them alone.