Claire Keegan’s best selling novella has been adapted for the screen by Enda Walsh and is directed by Tim Mielants. Cillian Murphy, fresh from his Oppenheimer Oscar success, stars as Bill Furlong, who, while working as a coal merchant to support his wife and five daughters, discovers disturbing secrets kept by the local convent.
I was very much anticipating this drama as the last work of Keegan’s to be brought to the screen was the brilliant A Quiet Girl in 2022 and it did not disappoint. Life in small town Ireland in 1985 was little different to 1955. The Catholic Church has a firm grip on the community and the depiction of Bill’s working and home life, before he makes his discovery, is richly compelling.
The toll of Bill’s subsequent dilemma is etched on Murphy’s face, and he delivers an exceptional performance, without any big scenes or histrionics. He is almost matched by a brief appearance of quiet menace by Emily Watson as the mother superior. Their scene together is a highlight. She is very sinister whilst seemingly being nothing but friendly and he visibly shrinks in her presence.
It covers similar ground to the fine film, The Magdalene Sisters, from 2002 and Eileen Walsh who played one of the pregnant girls in that, shines in Small Things Like These as Bill’s wife, Eileen. That film is a lot more explicit and angry in its tone. This has a quiet power, with a beautiful ending, and is all the more effective for it.
Rating: 9 out of 10