'Small Things Like These' is absorbing. I basically got exactly what I expected from this one. It's a slow burn, quiet film featuring a stellar, if somewhat understated, Cillian Murphy performance. The pacing is spot on and the story is undoubtedly engrossing, it's one that holds plenty of emotion behind it. It does conclude rather abruptly, I in fact overheard someone nearby remark "that can't be it" when the cut to black happens. That isn't, for me anyway, a bad thing though. Again, I kinda anticipated it being a movie that would simply tell its tale and end, which is certainly what it does. It is very much Murphy that stands out from these 98 minutes, but credit is still due for the likes of Eileen Walsh, Emily Watson and Zara Devlin in their respective supporting roles. No-one onscreen puts a foot wrong. All in all, it's evidently a supremely well made picture - one I'd recommend!

The film manages to capture the melancholy atmosphere and setting well, accentuating the sad tone. However, the narrative itself is empty and doesn't develop as it could. What should be a stronger theme is approached in a restrained and extremely superficial way. The film lacks any kind of expressiveness and constantly generates the expectation that something significant will happen, but nothing really moves forward. What's more, the pace is slow and tedious.

The movie takes a lot of time to unfold and does most of it in silence with little to no dialogue. But it still manages to immerse you to itself, thanks to brilliant performances especially Cillian Murphy. It is a meditative experience, and if you're not willing to observe the small things, perhaps you may not be able to sit through the movie. Initially, none of it makes sense and it feels like a Montonous Daily Routine of a Coal Man in Medieval England. But with each scene you are drawn in his psyche and feel sorry for what he's been through. By the end, you realize why Bill wanted to read David Copperfield (Hint: It's a book by Charles Dickens).

Slow, black, like coal dust, which the deadly tired main character washes off every day, a film about the little slaves of the church, who for years, like a vampire, fed on their labor and lives. The indifference of adults who accepted this way of life. Only the eyes of someone who has gone through this notice these little things in life. The story is local, but the subtext is general. A real person did the right thing and did not make a deal with his conscience.

if you are a highly emphatic person you might like this one, especially if you are a man. it's mostly [spoiler]a story about a man [/spoiler]. it's a drama so it's not for everyone but it is a movie that makes you feel more and makes you think a little too. there's very little dialog and everything about it is subtext. to compare this one to Juror #2 [spoiler] since both are about moral decisions [/spoiler], the Juror #2 will tell and show you in an obvious manner absolutely everything there is to know and more just to push you where they want you to be, while Small Things Like These will tell you nothing but you'll understand. i liked this one a lot and it was very well acted and i'd like to recommend it, but if you know you're not that empathic, it's probably better to skip this one. you'll find it boring and will be disappointed.