Small Things Like These

When I finished watching the poignant Small Things Like These, I was clear. “Small things” is a worthy application of literary irony. Why? Because this movie is about everything—except small things. This movie is about what truly matters in the everyday ordinariness of our lives: love.

Character Bill Furlong is an Irish coal merchant who must scrub his hands and face after work before he may join his wife and five daughters at the table. However, Bill is a man whose moral needle points true north.

The difficulties and graces in his childhood—his losses and his gains—have taught him to see. As a boy he vows, “I will live in the past, the present, and the future. I will not forget the lessons they teach.”

Bill remains a man quick to see beneath the surface of things. He understands. He gets the undercurrents, the true meaning beneath someone’s words.

So when he arrives at the nunnery at a new time, he finds a young woman shivering there—she’s been locked in the coal shed at Christmas time. Through clenched teeth, she tells Bill that she must remain at the nunnery for five more months—until she has her baby. What’s a family man to do? Bill’s choice might cost him a terrible price—a price his family would also pay.

Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy plays Bill with a subtle aplomb. He’s a familiar Irish actor thanks to multiple collaborations with British-American director Christopher Nolan, like Inception and, more recently, Oppenheimer.

The supporting cast includes the wonderful Emily Watson, who plays Sister Mary, Mother Superior, the film’s antagonist. This British actress is known for a long career that includes Gosford Park, War Horse, and The Theory of Everything.

The soul-deep story is based on Irish author Claire Keegan’s 2021 novella by the same title. An award-winning author, Keegan was born in County Wicklow, Ireland, where the film is set.

The movie is rated PG-13 for theme, not language. The worldview is certainly one that the Man of Sorrows Acquainted with Grief would approve. The story is for those who love deep character studies. (Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, and other streaming platforms).