Cillian Murphy comes up huge in ‘Small Things’
Lost in the heinousness of the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal is the institution’s other reprehensible crime against children, Ireland’s Magdalene laundries, where “fallen young women” were “enslaved” and forced into unpaid labor in the lead-up to having their newborn babies stolen. But the practice, which shockingly did not end until 1998, has been brought to light recently thanks to last month’s devastating “60 Minutes” report about the Vatican’s role and now Cillian Murphy’s new film, “Small Things Like These.”
In it, the reigning Best Actor winner plays Bill Furlong, a hardworking, God-fearing father of 5 – all girls – who utters nary a word as he goes about his business of hoisting and delivering weighty bags of coal to his customer base in New Ross, Ireland. One of those stops is the local convent run by the imperious Sister Mary (Emily Watson), a woman with all the warmth and sincerity of a mob boss. During one of these dropoffs, Bill believes he witnesses something nefarious. But the combination of his faith and penchant for keeping his head down dissuade him from mentioning it to anyone. His conscience, however, torments him. What will he do?
That’s the setup for this classy adaptation of Claire Keegan’s acclaimed novel about the conspiracy of silence. It’s an idiom both relevant and disturbing in this cultish age when otherwise rational people refuse to see what’s right in front of them. I suspect that was a factor in Murphy’s decision to get the film made with the assistance of co-producers Ben Affleck and his “Oppenheimer” co-star, Matt Damon. Ever the loyalist, Murphy also calls upon his “Peaky Blinders” helmer, Tim Mielants, to direct, and his “Disco Pigs” penner, Enda Walsh, to adapt Keegan’s unsettling tale of a man who firmly follows the Golden Rule even though all he ever receives in return are – literally and figuratively – lumps of coal.
Neither Mielants nor Walsh disappoints Murphy, providing the perfect vehicle for him to showcase his gift for portraying quietly driven men of few words but faces that speak volumes. That’s his Bill to a tee, and Murphy nails it. It may be muted, a slow burn if ever there was one, but it’s thrilling to behold, acting at its best. It’s obvious to us what’s eating Bill, but not to his see-something-say-nothing spouse, Eileen (Murphy’s “Disco Pigs” co-star Eileen Walsh).
Sure, she’s concerned that Bill is too troubled to sleep, but she passes it off as the normal “holiday blues,” as Christmas 1985 fast approaches. We know better, being privy to what Bill has observed, and, courtesy of a series of flashbacks, to the experiences of a bullied boy with a single mom dependent on the kindness of others to survive, including the enigmatic Ned (Mark McKenna).
It’s a case of the past informing the present. And the more insight you have into Bill’s traumatic childhood the more you understand why he moves through life so cautiously, both fearful and mistrustful. That’s particularly true in the case of people of authority like Sister Mary with her tactic to ensure buttoned lips with an envelope of cash, no doubt amassed by selling babies to childless Americans at top dollar.
No fool, Bill grudgingly accepts the money. It will make it possible to purchase the showy heels that Eileen has been coveting in a local shop window. But will that buy him peace of mind given all that he’s seen and heard, particularly from Sarah (Zara Devlin), the pregnant and traumatized teen he finds cowering and shivering in the convent’s coal storage shed?
The film is evocatively shot in color by Frank van den Eeden (“Close”), but it could just as easily be black and white given how nearly every image emits a grayish hue in harmony with the bleakness of the winter, and more symbolically, Bill’s soul. The man is plainly burdened by secrets, most of which are never revealed. But you know they exist under the surface. It’s evident in Bill’s demeanor and the furious and meticulous way – metaphor alert – he scrubs the coal grime off his hands at the end of each day.
How ironic, that a man who makes it possible for people to stay warm and snug remains cold and afraid. But of what exactly? Bill may never know. Still, he’s aware it’s there, haunting him, likely until the day he dies.
Movie review
Small Things Like These
Rated: PG-13 for thematic elements
Cast: Cillian Murphy, Emily Watson, Eileen Walsh, Mark McKenna and Zara Devlin
Director: Tim Mielants
Writer: Enda Walsh
Runtime: 97 minutes
Where: In theaters Nov. 8
Grade: B+
