“A masterclass” One year after Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy is back in the cinema with an equally exceptional film

News culture “A masterclass” One year after Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy is back in the cinema with an equally exceptional film

The Oppenheimer effect

Many remember the summer of 2023 for a specific reason: the phenomenon Barbenheimerwhere two polar opposite films fought to reach the top spot at the box office. In the end, it is Barbie of Greta Gerwig who won this first round with not far from $2.5 billioncompared to just under 1 billion for Oppenheimer of Christopher Nolan. But it was at the 2024 Oscars that the father of the atomic bomb took his revenge, amassing no less than 13 nominations and winning 7 awards, including Best Actor for Cillian Murphylet you star film.

Already recognized for numerous roles over the years, including that of Jim In 28 Days Laterthe Scarecrow in the trilogy Dark Knightor more recently Thomas “Tommy” Shelby in the hit series Peaky Blinders, Cillian Murphy is a name that has often come up in cinema in recent years, and which will undoubtedly continue its rise with 28 years later in 2025, but also and above all with Small Things Like These this month.

Cillian Murphy in new historical fiction

Small Things Like These is a Belgian-American-Irish production produced by Tim Mielants (Peaky Blinders, The Terror) and based on the historical fiction novel of the same name written by Claire Keegan. In the winter of 1985, Bill Furlonga devoted family man and coal merchant played by Cillian Murphyfinds a pregnant teenager locked in the coal shelter of the local convent, and despite himself discovers the secrets surrounding this institution intended for the re-education of “lost women”, like the Convents of the Madeleine who raged in Ireland from 1758 to 1996.

“The acclaimed star gives a masterclass in quiet expressiveness, and illustrates the fascinating axis around which Tim Mielants’ precise and skillful film turns.”

Nick Schager, The Daily Beast

With a score of 93% for criticism on Rotten Tomatoes ahead of its international release, Small Things Like These is well on its way to joining the growing repertoire of films marked by the talent of Cillian Murphy. Small Things Like These was released in cinemas on November 1 in Ireland and the United Kingdom and on November 8 in the United States. As for its release in French theaters, we do not yet have any information on this subject.