Calvary Movie Review (2014)

A slow-burning drama about a priest given one week to prepare for his own murder, Calvary balances dark humor and mystery with breathtaking Irish landscapes and a steadily building tension.

Over the last decade, Brendan Gleeson has become one of the actors that I look for in film. If he’s on the cover, I’m going to watch the movie, because even if the film isn’t good, he always is. There’s a quiet allure that grounds his characters, whether he is playing a hitman in In Bruges or the intense Mad-Eye Moody in the Harry Potter films. I’d never heard of this film before coming across it on a streaming service, but seeing his face, I was in.

Calvary is about a small-town priest, Father James, who, during confession, is told by a parishioner that the parishioner will murder him in a week. He has done nothing wrong and is a good man, but the parishioner was abused as a child, and someone in the church will have to pay for that. Knowing that his death is imminent and trying to figure out who it is that threatened his life, Father James continues to help the people in his town, as well as his daughter, as they manage their own complicated lives.

This indie film goes to the classic roots of what it is to be an independent film, with a focus on characters and relationships. The movie begins by establishing the mystery, and everything slowly unfolds around it.

The cast is large, with a soulful lead in Brendan Gleeson as Father James. This is a man with a past who works to help others, but he is still human. He has worries far beyond his own life and tries to be a quiet example every day. He reaches out to those who don’t want his help and sees others’ crises of faith. It’s a performance that doesn’t feel like he’s acting, Gleeson inhabits Father James so fully.

With a supporting cast including Chris O’Dowd, Kelly Reilly, Aidan Gillen, Domhnall Gleeson, and more, the small Irish town has many personalities, some of whom could be the mystery person. And while this mystery is a central theme of the movie, the narrative feels like water draining. It begins with wide concentric circles and slowly moves farther and farther inward until only a bit of fast-moving water remains.

With sweeping, picturesque visuals of Irish landscapes, Calvary does an excellent job of making you feel as if you are living in a beautiful painting while the walls gradually close in on you. Morally complex questions are raised and, as the haunting mystery intensifies, so does your interest in everything and everyone.

Runtime: 110 minutes

Motion Picture Rating: R

Languages Spoken In The Film: English

Should You Watch It? Yes

Did I Cry? Nope

My Rating: 3.75/5 Stars

Available: To rent on Prime Video or may be available for free on other streaming platforms