Small Things Like These (12A)

Cillian Murphy proves less is more in this expertly crafted drama.

Set during Christmas in 1985, the film follows Bill Furlong, a dedicated father and coal merchant, as he uncovers shocking secrets hidden by the local convents. Faced with the dark realities of Ireland's Magdalene laundries - brutal institutions run by the Roman Catholic Church from the 1820s until 1996 which claimed to rehabilitate "fallen women”, he must also confront some unsettling truths about himself.

Adapted from the prize-winning 2021 book by Claire Keegan, this is a film where so much is left unsaid. Unsettled by his own childhood connections to the laundries, Bill’s pain is evoked in small, telling ways such as shots of him scrubbing his hands of coal dust, as if washing away his perceived sins. Murphy’s is one of several outstanding performances; notably, Emily Watson is on imperious form as the convent’s Mother superior, who has clearly terrified the residents for years.

A restrained, dark and soul-searching story that centres on the cold, biting reality of how difficult and even miraculous it can be to escape poverty