He didn’t expect the rights to be available, but he called Claire Keegan’s agent, who told him they would
Synopsis
In 1985, devoted Father Bill Furlong uncovers disturbing secrets kept by a local convent and discovers shocking truths about himself. While Cillian Murphy was discussing working with Tim Mielents again, Murphy’s wife suggested that the novel Small Things Like These be made into a film. After acquiring the rights with producing partner Alan Moloney, Murphy pitched the idea to Matt Damon, who set up a studio with Ben Affleck on the set of this film.
And to the children who were taken from them
Damon loved the story, and the two set out to make the film. Eileen Furlong: If You Want to Go On in This Life, There Are Things You Must Ignore. Dedicated to the more than 56,000 young women who were sent to Magdalene institutions for “penance and rehabilitation” between 1922 and 1998.
Featured in 60 Minutes: Crisis in the Red Sea/Fake Voters/In Search of Cillian Murphy (2024)
If Oppenheimer seemed like the greatest possible scene for Cillian Murphy as an acting giant, Small Things Like These feels like a showcase for his ability to convey the most complex emotions with the most subtle facial expressions. It’s a very quiet film, and I found it so powerful largely because of all the things you don’t see unfolding on screen. It’s very effective in the way it transports you to that time period, and speaking as someone who doesn’t really know anything about that part of the story, I found it very authentic.
I could see some people finding it too emotionally distant, but I kept wanting to explore the emotions it was trying to convey
As I said, it’s a very quiet film with minimal flashy visuals or dialogue, and while that often worked, I couldn’t help but feel like it affected the pacing a bit. For a film that’s only 90 minutes long, it felt longer, which isn’t a bad thing in itself, but I guess after the slow build-up, I think I wanted a little more from the end. Small Things Like These feels like a passion project from start to finish, and one that uses the simplest of cinematic techniques to tell its story to great effect.