Sam's Blog - Calvary

John Michael McDonagh's CALVARY wastes no time getting to the heart of the story. The very first scene consists of a several minute shot in the confines of a confession booth, in which Father James (Brendan Gleesan), a serious, goodhearted but worn down priest, receives a threat from a member of his parish: in one week, says the unidentified man, who confesses he was molested by a priest for years as a child: "I'm going to kill you, Father... because you've done nothing wrong."

From then on, the film continues to plummet down into grim territory. Father James, who is not even sure if it was an idle threat or not, spends his whole week struggling with what to do: does he break the trust of the confessional and turn the man in, or wait to see if he can sway the man's mind? It seems that he will try the latter, and the one week he is given becomes a week to handle his affairs. He makes his usual rounds, meeting with a hodgepodge of characters in the town, all of whom seem to have something going on behind closed doors.

But as the story progresses, it looks less and less likely that he'll be able to change the outcome of the threat, as it seems the whole town has qualms with the church. And a visit from Father James' daughter, Fiona (Kelly Reilly) -- an illumination of Father James' past, before he became a priest -- complicates the story, as her fragile state forces him to think twice about the situation at hand.

Brendan Gleeson does an amazing job, as does the rest of the cast -- Chris O'Dowd, Dylan Moran, Domnhall Gleeson, and many more. The drama that unfolds is enthralling, and is made even more so by the beautiful soundtrack by composer Patrick Cassidy... it does a great job of setting the tone. While the first half of the film is sprinkled with (extremely) dark humor, the second half gets more and more gloomy as events take a turn for the worst. This film is a great study of desperation, loneliness, and forgiveness... and the darkness that lies in between. Honestly, there's enough here with which to write a dissertation. For those who can't handle dark subjects, I would be careful with this one... but it will certainly lend itself to deep conversation, and I do recommend it to those who are up for it. Come see CALVARY this week at the Midtown Cinema!