Calvary (2014) (English Language)

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Review

102min

Cast: Brendan Gleeson, Kelly Reilly, Chris O’Dowd …and more

The life of a good small-town Catholic priest on the rural coast of Ireland is thrown into turmoil when his life is threatened anonymously during confession, as the day of his impending doom approaches he is confronted by the dark nature of those around him and the sins of his own religion while trying to retain his faith and dignity in a darkly comic drama from the makers of ‘The Guard’ and ‘In Bruges’.

‘Calvary’ is a wonderfully gloomy and often comically dark drama with a mystery element that serves to drive a story which is essentially a critique of the modern human condition within a western context, in small-town Ireland.

On that note some non-British or npn-Irish viewers might benefit from subtitles in this case.

The always superb Brendan Gleeson stars as the priest and delivers a performance which is dry and direct when comical and profoundly reflective when dramatic, almost as impressive is the supporting cast of some of the best Irish talent available which you will no doubt recognize from countless Movies and TV shows on both sides of the Atlantic.

Writer/director John Michael McDonagh manages to weave the same deadpan humour and Irish “Gift of the Gab”, featured heavily in his brilliant previous collaboration with Gleeson ‘The Guard’, into a simple but multi-layered story that deals with loss and abandonment as well as all many of the issues of modern western living including prejudice, adultery, sexual depravity and the irony of a world that is more connected than ever but people who seem more desensitized and detached as a result.

At the center of all of this is the priest who struggles with the weight of all the guilt and cynicism around him while trying to maintain his own faith in both God and humanity, at its core this film questions the relevance of religion in general and Catholicism in particular within the complexities of the modern world, in a way ‘Calvary’ is a non-preachy existentialist religious drama that oddly manages to be humanist at heart, and most importantly entertaining throughout.

Original, morose, though-provoking and entertaining, ‘Calvary’ is one of the hidden gems of 2014 and a must see for all fans of the Gleeson/ McDonagh collaboration, which we hope to see a lot more of.

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Similar films you may like (Home Video)

The Guard (2011)

An unorthodox Irish cop teams up with a fastidious FBI agent to investigate a series of murders and break an unlikely international drug-smuggling ring operating on the coast of rural Ireland in this outrageous and ofter surreal dark comedy/thriller.

Directed by John Michael McDonagh and starring Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle and Liam Cunningham among others.