Small Things Like These
Rated PG-13
98 Minutes
Released November 8th
This may seem like a simple film about grief and finding the courage to take action against the dictates of social norms, but running underneath the story is a much greater history of sadness than meets the eye. It’s a haunting film that takes place during the Christmas season of 1985, in County Wicklow, Ireland. The story is beautifully written, as you come to learn more about the main character, “Bill Furlong,” with each passing minute. Furlong is played brilliantly by Cillian Murphy, whose work you may remember as “J. Robert Oppenheimer,” in Oppenheimer, part of the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon of Summer 2023.
Furlong is a quiet man who seems to exist deep inside himself, a result of a deeply insecure childhood. He loves his family and works hard at a back-breaking job of gathering coal and distributing it to the people of his village. Through the pain of his own past, Furlong is able to recognize pain in others, and his background won’t allow him to turn his back on someone else’s agony. The story is told in a visually dark environment, in looks and actions rather than words, as the story goes deeper and deeper into Furlong’s past. The remarkable cast will pull you into the story with intense performances.
Claire Keegan published her novel, Small Things Like These, in 2021. Although Murphy is a fan of Keegan’s work, it was the suggestion of Murphy’s wife, Yvonne McGuinness, that the book would make an excellent film for Murphy and Belgian director Tim Mielants to collaborate on. Murphy poured his heart into making the movie because he was so inspired by the material. Of Keegan’s book, he said, “I love her writing because it’s not dogmatic. I think people will relate to what the character goes through and the decision he makes in the end. It gives you something to contemplate. I like that.”
Director Mielants and Murphy worked together on the popular British TV show Peaky Blinders. Mielants lost his brother in childhood, and a sense of grief, direct or implied, runs through his work. An accomplished TV and film director, he is able to express pain in his work, without words or overt action. He knows how to show emotion in a minimalist style, which can make it all the more impactful. Although he did not know Irish history, he signed on for this project because he knows grief.
The way the story and the people in it are gradually revealed is how we get to know people in real life, and makes the story flow. Sequences of actions such as Furlong scrubbing the coal off his hands resolutely when he comes home after a hard day’s work speak more than words. Mielants and cinematographer Frank Van den Eden have created a quietly dark and somber tone that surrounds Furlong.
The setting of the story involves a dark chapter of Irish history. Institutions known as Magdalene Laundries were run by Roman Catholic orders in Ireland from the late 1700s to the late 20th Century, supposedly to “care for” fallen women. These laundries were secretive and It is estimated that some 30,000 girls and women were confined on convent grounds in a prison-like environment where they were forced into labor as laundresses. A formal state apology was issued in 2013. I lived in a village in County Wicklow for two years in the 1970s and not surprisingly, it seemed that none of the local people knew these stories.
In the end, one small heroic action that pushes against the established structure of social mores can start a domino effect that will bring great change. Small Things Like These is sad and painful but touching and uplifting at the same time.
