Cillian Murphy is tapping into his Irish roots as Bill Furlong in the latest trailer for “Small Things Like These.”
The short film trailer promises to excite fans as Furlong, a father with repressed trauma, discovers a disturbing secret hidden in a local monastery. He is forced to contend with his own trauma as he watches the horrific events unfold before his eyes. Murphy plays a quiet character who works in the coal mines before discovering abuse in his rural community. He is resigned to his own personal conflict as he considers speaking publicly about his findings.
of movie Set in the small Irish town of New Ross in 1985, the film is based on a real-life institution called the Magdalene Laundries (also known as the Magdalene Asylum), where Catholic nuns across Ireland separated unmarried pregnant women from their children and placed them in institutions. According to Encyclopedia Britannica. Women could also be sent to these institutions for obvious promiscuous behavior, overly sexual behavior, and other factors.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, there were allegations of ill-treatment, lack of food and water, forced name changes, and isolation from relatives. All Magdalene laundries in Ireland have been closed since October 1996.
As the story unfolds, Murphy's character struggles to confront the powerful organization while also coming to terms with his own past.
Murphy recently starred in the hit film Oppenheimer. Variety About the highly anticipated upcoming movie.
“I gave Matt the script. [Damon] “He loved it when we were shooting it,” Murphy said in an interview.
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 10: Cillian Murphy attends the 96th Academy Awards Ceremony on March 10, 2024 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Rodin Ekenroth/Getty Images)
“I remember saying it was a different movie, but there would be thematic overlap with 'Manchester by the Sea,' which Matt produced… It was like I was pitching it between 'Manchester by the Sea' and 'Doubt,'” Murphy told Variety.
Murphy handed the script to Damon, who agreed to produce the film through Artists Equity, the company he co-founded with Ben Affleck.
“They paid to make the movie,” Murphy said in an interview. “It got done incredibly quickly.”
LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 24: Cillian Murphy attends the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards Ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on February 24, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Axel/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic) Getty Images
Speaking to Variety about what makes the film unique, he said, “It looks very simple, but when you actually watch it, it's incredibly complex.” (Related: Cillian Murphy launches Big Things Films)
“This is so intertwined with the Irish people, our history, our culture, trauma and all that stuff, and I feel like sometimes art is a gentler way of addressing or confronting that than maybe a government report or an academic paper,” Murphy said in an interview.
