Synopsis

Nine-year-old Cait (Catherine Clinch) is neglected by her pregnant mother, boorish father and louder siblings. At school, she feels ignored. But things change when her father takes her to live with in-laws for the summer. Eibhlin (Carrie Crowley) and her farmer husband Sean (Andrew Bennett) take Cait in to alleviate her parent’s financial woes. At first, Cait feels a little intimidated by her new environment, though she soon finds freedom in this new world along with the attention she so desperately needs. But even as this new home becomes an idyll for her, Cait senses that something is plaguing her new foster parents. There is unspoken grief that exists in the house, one that Eibhlin and Sean never discuss, but which Cait’s youthful curiosity begins to uncover.

An adaptation of Claire Keegan’s acclaimed short story Foster’, Bairead’s Irish-language film is understated in both its visual style and the subtlety of the unfolding drama. The pastoral backdrop is a verdant playground for Cait, while Stephen Rennick’s wistful score not only accentuates the beauty of this world but also the secrets that lay hidden within it. At its heart lies an astonishing performance by Clinch. She quietly draws us into Cait’s world, her gestures allowing us to witness the lives of adults through her innocent yet understanding eyes.

Critics Views

“In another kind of movie, a lazier kind, all this stillness and rural beauty, seen by an enigmatically silent child who is accustomed to vanishing invisibly into the landscape, would be the ominous foretaste of something horrible or violent to come just before the final credits. But The Quiet Girl is doing something gentler than this, as well as realer and truer. It is a jewel.”
The Guardian

“The Quiet Girl is an unassuming drama — hushed, intimate and melancholy — skirting the edges of sentimentality at times but invariably pulling back before it becomes a sugary cliché. That balance is maintained also in Stephen Rennicks’ lovely melodic score. This is an accomplished debut feature, its emotional rewards in inverse proportion to its scale.”
The Hollywood Reporter

“The film’s writer-director, Colm Bairéad, shows how a well-judged movie can come near to corniness but still be deeply poignant.”
The Times

“One of the most exquisitely realised films of the year.”
The Observer

“The director Colm Bairéad’s remarkable debut is invested with meaning, lyricism and life. The images sing but they also breathe”
The New Statesman

Awards

Berlin Film Festival
Winner: Best Feature Film
Grand Prix of the Generation: Kplus International Jury (Colm Bairéad)
Special Mention: Children’s Jury – Film (Colm Bairéad)
Best First Feature Award: Colm Bairéad (director) Cleona Ní Chrualaoí (producer)

Film Rating

IMDb
 Critics: N/A  Audience 71%

Rotten Tomatoes
Critics positive review 100%   Audience Liked It N/A

 Stockbridge Audience Score: 91%

Audience Comments

Difficult to watch at times, but also uplifting and amusing. Very well acted.
Very moving. I loved the hints at behaviour and events. Kept me attentive and engaged throughout
I found some of the actors difficult to hear when they were speaking in english.
I was gripped by every understated minute of the film
Brilliant film, aptly named as there was a quietness which fed the atmosphere throughout, so observation was central to the film, by the viewer as well as the actors.
Beautifully filmed, poignant and a powerful illustration of the importance of attachment. I loved it.
Hard to hear what the father’s was saying in English at the start. After that it was a captivating performance with 3 excellent performances from the lead characters, especially the 12 year old. Would not have taken her long to learn her lines!
One of the best
A bit slow to start but an emotional and heart warming story about 2 families, 1 coping with the loss of a child, but both gaining a child in different ways and the moral dilemma of which family would be the better parents.
A lovely, peaceful film. Beautiful made.
Congratulations Paul on chosing such good films
A very thought provoking, sensitive and beautifully filmed story with an amazing young girl playing the leading role.
A nervous watch as all films about unhappy or cruelly treated children are. But beautifully and sensitively portrayed. What happens next does not feel good!
A lovely peaceful film with a deeper underling story
I found it rather depressing but am pleased to have seen it.
“A superb glimpse of the life of a young girl in a very difficult family situation in rural Ireland probably in the 1950’s judging by the cars and internal decor of the two farm houses.
Taken in by her pregnant mother’s cousin for the summer she visibly blossoms from the love of this other woman and gradually her restrained husband. A very touching development as while nothing is said until at the wake another local death it transpires that this couple had lost their young boy in a Farm accident.
Very simply shot in close up for much of the time with superb music the final scene reveals the likely tragic return to her family home and all its problems!!”
A simple story told beautifully and truly.
So good to be moved by a film that under-played it, rather than an excess of noise and posturing.
A simple but moving story. Well acted, with lovely cinematography.
Very moving and beautifully shot
wonderfully understated and powerful
This was a beautifully crafted film which may not be shown by mainstream cinema chains so we feel extremely grateful to have the chance to see it. It’s just the kind of film we need Independently minded film clubs for. Inspired programming.
The right length
Very moving, developimg to a tear-jerking finalle .
Superb piece of film-making with a wonderfully subtle story arc, the performances a joy and excellently managed atmospherics. A modern classic.

Film Rating

IMDb
 Critics: N/A  Audience 71%

Rotten Tomatoes
Critics positive review 100%   Audience Liked It N/A

 Stockbridge Audience Score: TBC%

Audience Comments