Cillian Murphy, after Oscar glory as Oppenheimer last year, has chosen another 20th Century historical narrative as his next film, and, as in that film, it is his utterly committed performance as a man wrestling with his conscience that is the backbone of this powerful and moving Irish drama.

Based on the Booker-shortlisted novel by Claire Keenan, this story is set in 1985 and follows Bill, a quiet, hard-working coal merchant who, at a visit to his local convent, uncovers some dark secrets linked to the infamous “Magdalene laundries” that plagued Ireland for decades.

A simple morality tale of an ordinary man trying to find the strength to face institutional malevolence, this short, sharp, shock of a film takes its strength from the performances of both Murphy and of Emily Watson, who plays the sinister Mother Superior.

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REVIEWS

★★★★ The Guardian
Murphy plays a man who witnesses Ireland’s church’s abusive workhouses for unwed mothers in an absorbing Dickensian story based on recent history

BFI Sight & Sound
This grimy, moving portrait of 1980s Ireland knows the power of restraint