Small Things Like These

Film details

Film TitleSmall Things Like These
Suitability
Genre
Length98mins
Year2024
CountryBelgium, Ireland, United States of America
DirectorTim Mielants
ActorsCillian Murphy, Emily Watson, Michelle Fairley, Eileen Walsh, Zara Devlin, Clare Dunne, Helen Behan, Ciarán Hinds, Ella Cannon
LanguageEnglish
Showings

While working as a coal merchant to support his family, Bill Furlong discovers disturbing secrets kept by the local convent and uncovers truths of his own; forcing him to confront his past and the complicit silence of a small Irish town controlled by the Catholic Church.

I was so rapt, so caught up in this film, that I wasn’t aware that it was going to be the ending until the screen faded to black. It is an absorbing, committed drama.

Hats off already to Berlin for bucking the long-established “opening night dud” tradition (all festivals are prone to it) and instead unveiling what might be one of the strongest titles in the entire line-up.

A key strength of “Small Things Like These” lies in Walsh and Mielants’ intelligent translation of Keegan’s bare bones style to the screen.