Small Things Like These (2024)

Cillian Murphy is riveting as a fuel merchant in this delicate, graceful adaptation set in 1980s Ireland that asks how we can be good amid the Magdalene laundries scandal. It proceeds with gossamer restraint and is thrilling in its subtlety.

Cillian Murphy gives another staggering performance in this profound Irish gem. Tim Mielants' understated adaptation of Claire Keegan’s novella packs surprising dramatic power.

Cillian Murphy mesmerises with moving vulnerability and hypnotic grace as a coal merchant who takes a stand against the cruelties of a Magdalene laundry in this tight-lipped, sad Irish drama. The film is shouldered with heroic understatement that could move mountains.

Mielants' subdued but powerful Berlinale opener is a mournful moral drama in which a father's conscience challenges the community's code of silence around the Magdalene laundries. It singles out Cillian Murphy's quiet intensity and exquisitely pained performance as the emotional core.

Murphy excels with stillness and control in this understated character study of trauma and moral choice. The film captures mid-1980s rural Ireland with subtlety, avoiding melodrama while highlighting the Magdalene laundries.

The adaptation of Claire Keegan’s novella is an atmospheric study in human decency set in 1980s Ireland, with Cillian Murphy as a coal merchant who performs a small but costly act of kindness. It casts a powerful spell despite its message of hardship and self-sacrifice.

Cillian Murphy delivers a restrained yet heart-rending performance as a decent coal merchant whose encounter with cruelty at a local convent reopens old wounds and forces a moral reckoning. The film is subtle, resonant, and crisply unsentimental in its treatment of intergenerational trauma and complicity.

Murphy gives a profound, understated performance as a coal merchant grappling with conscience in 1980s Ireland. The film quietly explores themes of looking away versus acting, in the spirit of another Keegan adaptation.

Cillian Murphy anchors this quiet, meditative portrait of a small town’s open secret as a coal merchant tormented by moral conflict over the Magdalene laundries. The film functions as a parable about how minor acts of kindness can counter systemic corruption.

Cillian Murphy impresses again in this adaptation of Claire Keegan’s novella about confronting Ireland’s Magdalene laundries.

The film fashions a believable vision of mid-1980s Ireland with meticulous realism, but its moral schema has the clarity of melodrama and at times gives way to hokey drama. Murphy convincingly embodies the quietly empathetic lead.

The film is a deliberate, understated drama that powerfully examines how good people allow bad things to happen through silence and complicity. Murphy's magnetic, taciturn performance as the coal merchant anchors the story and provides its quiet hope.

The film is a powerful, quiet drama about Ireland's Magdalene Laundries that stays faithful to Claire Keegan's novella. It singles out Cillian Murphy's marvelously expressive yet inward performance as the coal merchant whose conscience is stirred.

Murphy brings quiet intensity to the role of a man facing a crisis of conscience in this intimate adaptation. The controlled direction and subtle emotional weight make it a compelling, if sombre, Berlinale opener.

The film offers an authentic, restrained portrait of 1980s Ireland through its attention to period detail and atmosphere. Murphy delivers a subtle performance as a man confronting his town's complicity in the Magdalene laundries.

Murphy delivers an astounding, magnetic performance as the monosyllabic coalman confronting institutional abuse. The film is a beautifully simple, slow-burn story of moral courage and complicity set against the Magdalene Laundries.

Murphy proves less is more with a thoughtful, introspective turn as the coal merchant whose past traumas surface amid the convent scandal. Mielants crafts a dank, oppressive mood and understated power that grows through small moments and excellent supporting performances.

The film comes close to perfect as a reverent, capably constructed adaptation; the critic praises Cillian Murphy's incredible performance of stillness, smallness and precise physical detail as the standout element.

The critic lauds the film as a harrowing, accurate portrayal of Irish life under Catholic Church influence during the Magdalene laundries era. They single out Cillian Murphy's masterful inward performance, conveying an entire life of fears and indignation with extremely minimal dialogue.

A quietly brilliant, powerfully understated drama about a coalman struggling to ignore injustice in his community. The critic singles out Cillian Murphy's mesmeric performance as the element that holds the simple, small world together.

A chillingly effective religious drama that harnesses horror tropes in a muted way; the critic praises Cillian Murphy's anchored performance and the emotional restraint culminating in a single tear, while noting the festival context.

Praises Murphy's powerful performance in this sombre, slower drama about complicity in Magdalene Laundries, highlighting careful direction, cinematography, and Watson's terrifying supporting role; notes it may deter some due to pace but is intelligent.

Murphy anchors this modest gem of an impressionistic morality play about a good man confronting complicity and moral choice in 1980s Ireland. The film excels in mood, visual texture and empathetic exploration of loneliness and ethical dilemmas akin to those in Zone of Interest.

The critic finds it a quietly moving morality tale that delicately handles the topic of Magdalene Laundries with minimal but effective storytelling, praising Murphy's sympathetic performance and Watson's chilling turn, while noting the subtle storytelling delivers the emotional blow despite a potentially slow pace.

The film turns the source novel into a trauma narrative centered on Murphy's visibly tormented performance, but misses the original's tactful understatement and nuance. Emily Watson's menacing Mother Superior is singled out as the element that injects high stakes and vivid threat into the proceedings.

The critic praises Cillian Murphy's absorbing and affecting performance as the coal merchant Bill Furlong, noting his quiet grace and physicality in conveying trauma. They highlight the film's emphasis on willful ignorance and passive complicity in the Magdalene laundries abuses, with its dedication serving as a timely reminder of recent horrors.