Small Things Like These is an Irish film scheduled for release in autumn 2024. Adapted from the novel by Claire Keegan, the film tackles the terrible subject of Irish convents, which existed from the 1960s to the late 1990s. A highly-anticipated dramatic film, all the more so as it welcomes the immense Cillian Murphy in the lead role!
Cillian Murphy stars in Small Thing Like These
Ireland 1985, Christmas time. Bill Furlong (Cillian Murphy) is an Irishman who is very involved in his village. A loving father and coal merchant, he’s about to discover the terrible secrets of his town’s convent… Terrifying, spine-chilling secrets that must not be awakened… at the risk of unleashing the unsuspected.
Tuam’s children
This film isn’t the first to tackle the exactions of the Irish Catholic Church. Feature-length films such as “The Magdalene Sisters” have already tackled the subject, based on the terrible events of the 1960s in Ireland.
Ireland is at the heart of a veritable state scandal. And with good reason: for several decades, Catholic convents held captive thousands of women deemed “scandalous”.
Their crime? Getting pregnant out of wedlock… Regardless of the circumstances, whether their child was the fruit of rape or a relationship deemed immoral, they were systematically locked up (with the approval of their families) in Catholic institutions, condemned to give birth on the spot and to forced labor (often laundry work). Worse still, children born in convents were then put up for adoption, despite the mothers’ wishes. All of which would have brought juicy sums to the local convents and orphanages, on the backs of mothers and children who had asked for nothing, and whose lives had been permanently shattered.
In addition, there were countless cases of abuse, violence and malnutrition. Some places, such as the Tuam orphanage, even revealed mass graves where up to 800 children were buried between 1925 and 1961. The children died of disease, abuse and neglect in total silence and indifference. Even the mothers were unaware of the fate of their own children! These scandals literally cracked the cohesion of Irish society.
A deeply Catholic country, the scale of the abuses perpetrated by the Catholic Church in Ireland had irreversible consequences, both in terms of faith and the image of the typical Irish family. Today, despite a Christian religion that is still firmly entrenched in Irish society, many Irish people express distrust of Catholic institutions.
The Irish government has gone so far as to set up a number of commissions of inquiry to shed light on church abuses. The reports are often terrifying, and thousands of victims are still seeking redress for the terrible Magdalene convents.
A scene from the film The Magdalene Sisters
Let’s face it: with “Small Things Like These”, director Tim Mielants tackles an extremely sensitive social issue in Ireland.
With Cillian Murphy as the plot’s megaphone (a pure Irishman, to boot, which reinforces the film’s powerful commitment), the feature-length film aims to shed light on facts too often swept under the carpet.
Cillian Murphy, true to form, is 200% committed to his role, delivering a performance of great accuracy. Accustomed to major Hollywood productions, as well as Irish auteur films, the young man never ceases to amaze us with his committed stance. He plays opposite Michelle Fairley, Clare Dunne and a simply terrifying Emily Watson as the convent’s Mother Superior.
The film was shot in 2023 between New Ross in County Wexford and Dublin, both in Ireland. The project focuses on authenticity and an atmosphere that is as realistic and intimate as possible.
A film d’auteur, designed to look back at a state scandal and allow the Irish to continue questioning what might have happened. A cathartic way of looking critically at abuse, violence and silence.
Although based on a short story by Claire Keegan, the film draws on both the imaginary and the real. An approach in line with similar films, such as The Magdalene Sisters or Philomena. One thing’s for sure: no viewer will come away unscathed. You’ll be left shaken, bitter and shocked. A veritable indictment of the Catholic Church, once considered benevolent, which in some of its establishments has dared to do its worst….
