Small Things Like These
Stephen Morgan

Review by Stephen Morgan

Small Things Like These

2024
★★★½ Liked

Watched 26 Nov 2024

Absorbing and emotional Irish drama.

The film has a very distinct atmosphere - cold, wet and often dark - that contrasts with the Christmas setting.

Thematically the film deals with a crisis of conscience and the ethics of speaking out in the face of huge, institutional abuse balanced against personal risk.

Cillian Murphy is superb and does a lot of excellent acting work with just his eyes and expressions. Emily Watson makes a short but memorable appearance as a formidable Sister at a convent.

I enjoyed the fact the movie doesn’t spell everything out for the viewer and often left things up to the viewer to work out for themselves.

The end is good and I liked where the film leaves the story.

Ultimately there is a smallness to it that perhaps stops it from being really good, but it is a solid drama with some impactful moments that is worth checking out.

Block or Report

Stephen liked these reviews

All
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_efe17fb8-595b-46e6-b0b2-fb2c753b1d41" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-efe17fb8-595b-46e6-b0b2-fb2c753b1d41'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div -tile300x250 -alignleft -bottommargin'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'med_rect_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-efe17fb8-595b-46e6-b0b2-fb2c753b1d41'); }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-efe17fb8-595b-46e6-b0b2-fb2c753b1d41'));
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_d7418edc-d72f-4b09-9b1e-5e18f36b75c8" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-d7418edc-d72f-4b09-9b1e-5e18f36b75c8'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'sky_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-d7418edc-d72f-4b09-9b1e-5e18f36b75c8'); }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-d7418edc-d72f-4b09-9b1e-5e18f36b75c8'));