The Quiet Girl Movie Review (2022)
A tender Irish drama about a neglected young girl sent to stay with distant relatives for the summer, The Quiet Girl is a gentle and deeply moving film that finds extraordinary emotion in the smallest moments.
The older I get, the more grateful I am for the catalog of films that we have access to. I never intentionally watched international films as a younger person (although I’m sure I watched many, I just didn’t know it), but there are so many incredible movies to see from other countries. Some of my favorite Irish films include The Banshees of Inisherin, Sing Street, The Secret of Roan Inish, and now this.
The Quiet Girl is about 9-year-old Cáit, a girl with a dysfunctional family full of many siblings, a mother who is always pregnant and emotionally removed, and an alcoholic father. A quiet child who wets the bed, isn’t given food for lunch at school, and doesn’t interact with many people, Cáit is sent to stay with cousins that she doesn’t know, Eibhlín and Seán, for the summer. There, she is cared for with gentle hands and calm voices.
This is a wonderful movie. It has a tranquil earthiness that makes you feel connected to all of the little things. There is a focus on the purity of the water at the well, with a gentle wave, the moon lit bright above, and the sun shining through the trees, with the wind whistling. This is the essence of what it is to be with Eibhlín and Seán.
The color palette is soft and minimal, but the naturalness is all around. Browns, greens, and maroons are everywhere until Cáit gets a yellow dress. That is the moment you realize the slow upward trajectory of her emotional journey. She is ready for it.
While I was watching The Quiet Girl, I forgot that it was a movie. I believed wholeheartedly that these were real people helping a real child who grew from day to day. It is magnificent when that can happen.
At the beginning of the film, you feel for Cáit. Every child should have a light in their eyes and be able to easily produce a smile on their face, but that wasn’t her life. To be hopeless and alone at 9 years old is a terrible fate, so when you watch her with Eibhlín and Seán, two heartbroken people who are both afraid and yearn to love her, it is magical.
This movie touched me deeply, and I’m glad that I had tissues in my pocket because I used them. I have never quite seen the intimate nature of the development of trust and appreciation presented in the way The Quiet Girl does, and it lingers long after the movie ends. At one point, Seán tells Cáit, “You don’t have to say anything. Always remember that. Many’s the person missed the opportunity to say nothing and lost much because of it.” So I’ll just leave it at that.
Runtime: 95 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: PG-13
Languages Spoken In The Film: Irish and English with English subtitles
Should You Watch It? Yes, absolutely
Did I Cry? Yes, I did
My Rating: 5/5 Stars
Available: Free on Hulu or Disney+, to rent on Prime Video, or may be available for free on other streaming platforms
