As the holidays are approaching, there are a bunch of new movies coming that are set at Christmas time. Well, Small Things Like These takes place over Christmas in 1985, but this is NOT a warm and fuzzy holiday movie. Adapted from the Booker Prize-nominated novel by Claire Keegan, it’s a sobering film dealing with Ireland’s dark secret of the Magdalene laundries. For those unfamiliar with the history, for over 200 years, ‘fallen women’ considered unworthy of society were turned into slave laborers by Catholic nuns under the guise of reform.

There have been documentaries and even features made about this topic, i.e. The Magdalene Sisters (2002) by actor/director Peter Mullan. What sets this one apart is it’s told from the point of view of a mild-mannered family man and coal merchant Bill Furlong (Cillian Murphy) who uncovers a shocking secret hidden by the convent in his small town New Ross. Bill seems to have it pretty good in life–he earns a decent income from his coal delivery business and shares a lovely home with his wife and their five daughters. Yet from the start you know there’s an internal tumult that weighs him down. There are repeated scenes of Bill washing his hands furiously as if he’s trying to scrub away his nagging conscience.

One day, an encounter during a routine delivery at the convent leaves Bill rattled. A young girl he saw scrubbing the floor begs for his help to escape, but he is powerless to do anything. He tries to talk things over with his wife Eileen (Eileen Walsh) who seems to be more preoccupied with the upcoming Christmas festivities and family tradition. In the end, Bill is alone in this, as even his wife tells him to look away and just focus on what’s best for their family.

As someone who hasn’t read Keegan’s book, it took me some time to piece together who Mrs. Wilson is and the crucial role she played in Bill’s life. Through a series of flashbacks, we start to piece together Bill’s upbringing by a single mother and her employer Mrs. Wilson (Michelle Fairley) is kind to them. As it turns out, Bill’s mother Sarah (Agnes O’Casey) was pregnant out of wedlock and housed by Mrs. Wilson.

Belgian director Tim Mielants and screenwriter Enda Walsh resist the tendency to bludgeon viewers with over-expositions. The no-frills, quiet approach is appropriate for the story, though the deliberately slow pace can be frustrating to some. Silence speaks a thousand words, as they say, and the silence of the townsfolk is almost deafening. DP Frank van den Eeden creates such an evocative atmosphere that you can almost feel the chill of the snowy night. Ordinary things like  The camera work serve as a potent storytelling tool, as the quick glimpses through doorways underscore the heavy secrets that weigh on the narrative.

The scene where Bill sees a shivering young girl (Zara Devlin), who shares the same name as her late mother, inside a freezing coal shed is a turning point in the story. At first, Bill turns Sarah back into the asylum, and his path crosses with the Mother Superior, Sister Mary (Emily Watson) who invites him for tea. You could cut the tension in this scene with a knife and Watson’s quietly sinister performance is eerie to watch. Here’s a woman of God whose supposed mission is to care for people in need, yet Sister Mary has no qualms about abusing young women for profit.

The film made it clear that the hand of the Church touches every aspect of the state, ‘the nuns have a finger in every pie’ as pub owner Mrs. Kehoe (Helen Behan) puts it. More importantly, the nuns are in charge of education. As Bill has five young daughters, it’s easy to see his dilemma as taking on the nuns would directly impact his own family’s future. Yet he simply can’t shake the fact that if someone like Mrs. Wilson had turned a blind eye to his own mother, she would’ve shared the same fate as the girls at the Magdalene Asylum.

Murphy is superb in an understated but powerful role and his astute performance is the film’s special effect. The subject matter seems to hit close to home for the Irish actor, who said in an interview with the Guardian that this dark history is a ‘collective trauma’ that many Irish people still have a hard time processing. What’s notable is Matt Damon and Ben Affleck serve as producers under their Artists Equity studio. Apparently, Damon became aware of this project after co-starring with Murphy in Oppenheimer. It’s another strong, Oscar-worthy performance though I’m not sure this little film could rise above other buzz-worthy films out there.

I think it’d make an interesting double feature with Conclave, which focuses on the pomp and circumstance of papal selection, given that the head of the Catholic Church and those in power have so much to answer to about this horrific scandal. The film’s ending shows one of the few moments where Bill cracks a smile, even though the impact of his courageous choice is significant. Making the right call will cost him dearly, but ignoring it might just destroy him from the inside.

Again, I can’t speak about how faithful this adaptation is to the book, but the film is a subtle yet powerful critique of the wrongs done in the name of faith, while also shining a light on the importance of human compassion.

Have you seen Small Things Like These? I’d love to hear what you think!

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