Film Review: Small Things Like These.

I don’t go to the cinema very often these days. I think the last film I saw before last night was The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry starring Jim Broadbent. However, when I saw that Small Things Like These was showing at the Odeon in Trowbridge I knew I should make the effort to go. This was because a friend of mine spoke highly of the film after seeing it recently. Also, you may recall that I wrote a review of the original novella by Claire Keegan which was published in 2021, so I was keen to see if the film was faithful to the book. The film is directed by Tim Mielants who I haven’t heard of before. He doesn’t have a Wikipedia entry which suggests to me that this is his directorial debut. If that is the case, then I think he has done an excellent job in portraying Ireland during a difficult economic period of the 1980s. He brilliantly captures the bleak rainy pre-Christmas mood of the book, even down to little details like the ominous crows on the roofs. The book is adapted for the screen by Irish playwright Enda Walsh who largely sticks to the plot of Claire’s original story. Cillian Murphy who takes the lead role of the coal merchant Bill Furlong also produced the film. Cillian deserves an award in my opinion for his brilliant performance. 

The protagonist Bill Furlong is a man of few words who largely lives in his own thoughts. He is going through a kind of mid-life crisis, struggling with what Eckhart Tolle would call the pain-body, and brooding on childhood trauma, such as being bullied by other kids and witnessing the death of his mother, also wondering where his father is. Because he is such an introverted, quiet, but kindly character it takes a great actor to portray him. The performance isn’t in the dialogue so much, but all in the eyes and facial expressions, even washing the coal off his hands is an expression of what is going on in his mind. It is a wonderful, understated performance. Another actor worthy of an award is Emily Watson as the Mother Superior Sister Mary. Even when she is speaking politely you can tell by the look in her eye that she is as hard as flint.

I can’t say much more for fear of giving the story away in case you see the film yourself, but Bill makes a discovery which brings matters to a head, leaving him with a moral dilemma. He must make a decision. The film ends abruptly which took the audience by surprise, but that didn’t matter because the film had made its point. I can see why Claire Keegan called her book Small Things Like These. One small courageous action can play a big part in ending a long-standing evil. I was reminded of Rosa Parks when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white person, or when Greta Thunberg refused to go to school until something was done about climate change. Small things like these can have big results.