Here’s a sneak peek at Cillian Murphy‘s next not-“Peaky Blinders” film.
The Academy Award winner stars in and produces “Small Things Like These” based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Claire Keegan. “Small Things Like These” centers on devoted father Bill Furlong (Murphy) who works as a coal merchant to support his family. While on the job, he discovers disturbing secrets kept by the local convent — and realizes some truths of his own — forcing him to confront his past and the complicit silence of a small Irish town controlled by the Catholic Church.
The film is set in 1985, and co-stars Emily Watson, Michelle Fairley, and Eileen Walsh.
Playwright Enda Walsh (“Disco Pigs,” “Hunger”) adapated the script, with “Peaky Blinders” director Tim Mielants directing. The feature premiered at Berlinale 2024; it was later acquired by Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions.
Murphy’s “Oppenheimer” co-star Matt Damon also produces through his Artists Equity banner with Ben Affleck.
The IndieWire review praised “Small Things Like These” for being an “unexpectedly tense film” that veers into a “kind of gothic horror.”
“This is absolutely Murphy’s film,” the review reads. “Murphy has proven many times before his ability to hold something burning and unknowable behind the eyes — the ever-simmering violence of Tommy Shelby; the burdensome genius of Robert Oppenheimer — and here he once again channels that ability to convey the deep empathy that lies behind Bill’s taciturn exterior. A passive protagonist can drive a viewer to frustration, but Murphy projects just enough through those icy blue eyes to allow us to follow his character’s gradual dawning comprehension, an understanding which is never verbalized but only felt, seen in the tiniest ripples as they cross Bill’s otherwise placid face.”
Murphy, who is set to return to “Peaky Blinders” for a sequel film to the series, told Vanity Fair that “Small Things Like These” captures the generational trauma of Irish people.
“I feel that sometimes art is a gentler way of addressing or confronting that than, perhaps, government reports or academic papers,” Murphy said.
It was during “Oppenheimer” production that “Small Things Like These” fully came together.
“I gave the script to Matt [Damon] when we were shooting, and he loved it,” Murphy said. “I remember saying that it’s a different film, but it would share some thematic crossover with ‘Manchester by the Sea,’ which Matt also produced. It was like I was pitching between ‘Manchester by the Sea’ and ‘Doubt.’”
“Small Things Like These” premieres November 8 in theaters. Check out the trailer below.
