An Irish farm thriller ewe may like (if ewe overcome the violence).
Last year, I’ve delivered my praises to three Irish dramas, which didn’t really connect with audiences the way they should have. “Small Things Like These” was about a man contemplating on helping a young woman out of torment. “Kneecap” was about the Irish band and how the Irish-Gaelic language must be preserved. And “In the Land of Saints and Sinners,” Liam Neeson played an ex-assassin wanting to give up a life of murder.
Now, we have “Bring Them Down,” which I doubt will bring in a crowd, but if you do trust my judgement and appreciate the smaller, finer things in life, you might appreciate it as much as I do. Or you might be as repulsed by its choice of violence, which includes animals getting stabbed and an ear getting shot off. I sympathize both sides to this, but I’m still recommending the film for the directions it takes regarding choices, rivalry, and sheep (I think you get my “ewe” pun in the heading above)
Christopher Abbott plays a young man named Michael, who is trying to keep his old man Ray (Colm Meaney) and their family ram farm in check, while struggling to overcome a tragic past regarding his mother and former girlfriend Caroline (Nora-Jane Noone from “Brooklyn”). Nowadays, he’s also stuck dealing with a rival farmer named Gary (Paul Ready from “Heart of Stone”) and his son Jack (Barry Keoghan). You can tell whose sheep is whose by the spray paint markings on their wool (that’s easy to shave off in case anyone is offended).
One night, two of their sheep are found dead on Gary’s property, while others get maimed, and so, Ray tells Michael to kill their rival “Bring me his f***ing head,” he says. Either he means that figuratively or literally.
We see the movie from both perspectives, and they both involve a trailer accident and a car beeping at the rams in the middle of the road. We also know that Jack is also Caroline’s son, who also knows that his parents are at the end of their marriage. And we also see how he and his friend Lee (Aaron Heffernan) handle the rams, which I doubt will get some reassurance from the American Humane Association, since this is an Irish import.
In the commercial aspect, I was less than impressed with Abbott’s last two films “Kraven the Hunter” and “Wolf Man.” And in the independent circuit, I was delighted by “Poor Things” and I’m entertained with how he uses a much more convincing Irish accent than Christopher Walken did in “Wild Mountain Thyme.” And the actor learned to speak the Gaelic language for his scenes with Meaney, whose character speaks the language. So, being an Irishman, I’m sold.
Koeghan is also great in this movie for the ways he shifts his tones and emotions, and for how the screenplay adjusts his character development. Both he and Abbott are part of a story that starts off slow, but then picks up the pace when the attacked animals raises the stakes on both rival farmers. In fact, with the sheep being attacked, it almost feels like there is a Wolf Man in their presence.
We also get some terrific supporting work from Noone, Ready, and Meaney for how they all handle their dialogue (of both languages) and emotions. In or outside the farm feud, we can sympathize with their lives and choices, which threaten to destroy their well-beings.
Like “In the Land of Saints and Sinners,” “Bring Them Down” plays like an Irish revenge western with fights, less dialogue, and a strong intensity within the characters. And like that film, I know this film will be overshadowed by some of the bigger new releases and even the Oscar nominees out now. But I do know some people have good taste in smaller things, and they should give this movie a shot. I’m glad I did.