Small Things Like These is a historical drama set in 1985 at Christmas time. It's about a devoted father, Bill Furlong (Cillian Murphy) who discovers disturbing secrets kept by the local convent, while also dealing with his own troubled past.
The flashbacks to Bill's childhood show us the loneliness he felt and the poverty he had to deal with. How both he and his mother were ostracized (by her family) before her sad untimely death.
This past impacts his present, how he feels now as a father of five young girls, holding down a soul destroying coal merchant job, and 'butting heads' with the local convent, led by Sister Mary (Emily Watson.)
The movie is loosely based on the female victims of the Magdalene Laundries, which ran from 1922 to 1998. In which 'Fallen Women' were housed by Roman Catholic orders. While doing his rounds, Bill finds a teenage girl, Sarah (Zara Devlin) locked in a convent coal shed. Can he help her?
The film is well shot and some would say, thought-provoking, with good acting, but there isn't a great deal going on here. Despite admirably bringing attention to this shocking historical crime, it is excessively slow, reflective and maudlin. Rainy Sunday afternoon entertainment.
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DIRECTED BY: Tim Mielants. SCREENPLAY BY: Enda Walsh. BASED ON: Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. RUNNING TIME: 98 minutes. CERTIFICATE: 12A / PG -13. IRE / BEL.
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