‘Small Things Like These’ movie release date, trailer, cast, and more

The Cillian Murphy vs. The Catholic Church drama/mystery Small Things Like These is coming soon! But what’s the plot? When’s the release date? All this answered and more.

What is “Small Things Like These” about?

Inspired by a Claire Keegan book of the same name, Small Things Like These centers around a small town coal merchant named Bill Furlong, hocking fossil fuels to support his family in 1980’s Ireland. His town is under the thumb of one of the most powerful organizations on Earth: The Catholic Church. The local headquarters of the institution? The town’s convent. Bill isn’t sure, but he’s beginning to suspect that this little convent is more than what it pretends to be. He has a hunch that it’s actually a “Magdalene asylum”, named after the Biblical follower of Jesus who is sometimes portrayed as a sex worker.

Historically, Magdalene asylums, also called Magdalene laundries were essentially church sponsored penitentiaries for “fallen women”. Woman and girls who became pregnant outside of marriage, or simply lacked support from their families, were sent to the asylums to work as indentured servants under brutal conditions. If there is indeed a dark and secret Magdalene asylum in Bill’s town, he’s gonna have to drag it kicking and screaming into the light, fighting against both Catholic Church and the townspeople who conveniently looked the other way.

Who’s who in the cast?

Bill Furlong will be played by Cillian Murphy. After all, Murphy’s ties to the source material run deep. In an interview with Deadline, he said that he “fell in love” with the novel due to its unique story and universal themes. He’s such a fan of Claire Keegan’s original novel that he’s helping produce the film adaptation himself. Joining Murphy is Michelle Fairley, who played  Catelyn Stark in the HBO series Game of Thrones. Actors Eileen Walsh and Zara Devlin, who both recently appeared in the drama film Ann will be joining the cast as well.

Directing the film is Tim Mielants, who served as a director on the Peaky Blinders (which stars Cillian Murphy as well!) The film is being financed through Ben Affleck and Matt Daemon’s company, Artist’s Equity.

When will it be released?

After its illustrious premiere at the Berlin film festival and subsequent acquisition by Lionsgate, Small Things Like These is slated to be released in the UK and Ireland on November 1st, 2024 and in the US a week later on November 8th.

Is there a trailer?

There certainly is.

(Featured Image: Lionsgate)