Adapted from the prize-winning 2021 book by Claire Keegan, this subtle Irish drama is about the so-called ‘Magdalene Laundries’, the mainly Catholic Church-run institutions where ‘fallen women’ were housed and exploited. While the shameful practice, which ran from the 18th century to the late 20th, was previously fully explored in Peter Mullan’s acclaimed, inmate-focused The Magdalene Sisters (2002), Tim Mielants’ (2019’s Patrick) '80s-set drama explores it from an outsider’s perspective.
Living in New Ross, County Wexford, with wife Eileen (Eileen Walsh), ‘soft-hearted’ father-of-five Bill (Cillian Murphy) is an introspective coal merchant whose past traumas erupt to the surface when, during the Christmas period, he delivers his wares to a local convent. There, quite by accident, he discovers a young, dishevelled girl cowering in a coal shed.
Scripted by playwright Enda Walsh (who co-wrote Steve McQueen’s Hunger, 2008), this is a film where so much is left unsaid. Unsettled by his own childhood connections to the laundries, Bill’s pain is evoked in small, telling ways. Take the shots of him scrubbing his hands of coal dust, as if washing away his perceived sins.
Murphy’s thoughtful turn is but one of several excellent performances; notably, Emily Watson is on imperious form as the convent’s Mother superior, who has clearly terrified residents these past years. Mielants, who brilliantly conjures a dank, oppressive mood (even a shot of childhood fave Danger Mouse on TV fails to lift the spirits) skilfully avoids any overwrought confrontations; the film’s understated power only grows as it goes on.
Small Things Like These is released in UK cinemas on November 1 and US theaters on November 8.
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