The drama «Small Things Like These» starring Cillian Murphy has been released in cinemas on 3 April. The film was directed by Tim Milance, with whom the Irish actor has worked on the set of the hit series «Peaky Blinders» (2013—2022). The plot is based on the 2021 novel of the same name by Irish writer Clare Keegan. What are these Magdalene shelters, why did Murphy’s character have to face a difficult moral choice, and why will the viewer surely care about his mental torment — we tell you in the review below.
«Small Things Like These»
Genre historical drama
Director Tim Mielants
Starring Cillian Murphy, Eileen Walsh, Michelle Fairley, Claire Dunne, Helen Bean, Emily Watson, Liadan Dunley, Agnes O’Casey, Mark McKenna, Zara Devlin
Premiere movie theaters
Year of release 2025
Website IMDb, official website
The story takes place on Christmas Eve 1985 in New Ross, Ireland. Bill Furlong, a loving father of 5 daughters and husband, sells coal. In the cold wintertime, there is plenty of work to go around — Bill delivers bags of coal all over town every day and loads them into dark barns. Among the delivery points is the local monastery, which operates the Magdalene Shelter, a kind of correctional facility for so-called «fallen women».
One cold pre-dawn, in the monastery’s coal storage shed, Bill discovers a young girl who is frozen and frightened, apparently locked in there on purpose. This accidental discovery, as well as the call for help from one of the girls during his previous visit, causes him to feel very distressed. Although the circumstances literally force the hero not to intervene, as it risks negative consequences for his family, he simply cannot stand aside.
The history of Magdalene shelters, also called laundries, dates back to the 18th century. Irish laundries, supported by the church and religious orders, existed for more than 200 years, and the last such institution closed only in 1996. Girls and women who, for example, were rejected by their families, abused, or simply orphaned, could end up in the shelter. Women were literally imprisoned in Magdalene laundries, mothers were separated from their children and placed in foster care, and God only knows what inhuman trials the unfortunate ones had to face over the decades.
The story of the future movie’s origin began on the set «Oppenheimer», when Cillian Murphy, inspired by the short novel «Small Things Like These» by his compatriot Claire Keegan, told Matt Damon about his intention to adapt the book. He, along with his best friend Ben Affleck, had just founded the production company «Artists Equity» and supported the idea. That’s how the project was launched.
At the same time, the authors do not even come close to resorting to primitive manipulations: you will not see cruel abuse or oppression of women here. On the contrary, the narrative takes place mostly outside the walls of the ill-fated monastery and focuses on a man, the taciturn character Murphy. Through flashbacks that tell the story of the hero’s childhood, appropriately restrained (don’t count on more than one stingy tear on his cheek), Killian’s excellent acting and visual metaphors, we understand perfectly well what the coal miner is feeling and live these experiences with him.
There is no doubt that the bags of coal suggest Bill Furlong’s mental burden, not his physical one. That overzealous washing of hands soiled after a day’s work is a futile attempt to «cleanse» conscience. However, it will not be possible to get rid of the all-consuming feeling of guilt for inaction that eats away at you from the inside. That the sudden snowstorm outside the windows of the old truck characterizes the inner state of the stunned man. Does it make sense to emphasize the filling of the frame when the camera is in the monastery — it’s hard not to see a natural prison there.
«Small Things Like These» — is definitely not about the banal struggle between good and evil, or even about how a «small person» challenged a powerful system, in a single struggle against which he has little chance of even the slightest success. It is primarily about difficult moral choices, about indifference and about how determination literally ripens inside the hero when all circumstances are against him, but at the same time, it becomes unbearable to give up and stand aside.
It’s a story that finds a place for a hopeful glimpse of humanity when everyone around you prefers to be indifferent, busy with the pleasant pre-Christmas bustle. It’s reinforced by the sheer bleakness of the frame. Everything about this place screams of unfortunate reality, from Cillian Murphy’s endlessly sad eyes to the pitch-gray landscapes of a sleepy Irish town.