Bring Them Down

Bring Them Down

20/9/2024 1h 45m 6.8/10

Overview

When the ongoing rivalry between farmers Michael and Jack suddenly escalates, it triggers a chain of events that take increasingly violent and devastating turns, leaving both families permanently altered.

Director

Tony Aherne

Top Billed Cast

Barry Keoghan

Barry Keoghan

Jack

Colm Meaney

Colm Meaney

Ray

Paul Ready

Paul Ready

Gary

Susan Lynch

Susan Lynch

Peggy

Christopher Abbott

Christopher Abbott

Michael

Nora-Jane Noone

Nora-Jane Noone

Caroline

Reviews

CinemaSerf

CinemaSerf

2/13/2025

7/10

We start with a fairly traumatic car accident that goes some way in explaining just why, many years later, the sheep farming “Michael” (Christopher Abbott) is living with his immobile dad (Colm Meaney) and living a fairly unfulfilled life. Their neighbour calls to advise that a couple of his rams have been found dead on their farm and so when he goes to investigate, we meet “Caroline” (Nora-Jane Noone) who used to be his girlfriend before she left him for “Gary” (Paul Ready) and they had son “Jack” (Barry Keoghan). With no evidence of the corpses, he heads to the market to buy replacements only to find that his neighbours haven’t been straight with him and that there’s quite enough history here to ensure that “Michael” keeps his mouth shut. Meantime, things aren’t proving much better for the couple next door as their farm is struggling to pay it’s way and when their young son comes up with an unilateral scheme with his thuggish cousin “Lee” (Aaron Heffernan) to raise, rather brutally, some extra cash then things turn violent and dangerous now with just about every element of trust out the window! This isn’t a mystery for the squeamish as it highlights some of the real difficulties faced by hill farmers facing financial difficulties trying to make their inhospitable land pay. The story itself here is a bit of a mess, and though it does gradually start to make a little sense towards the end, for the most part it seems a little too thinly stretched and reliant on the time-shifting chronology to tell us an under-characterised story from differing perspectives as the threads rather far-fetchedly come together at the end. It’s a fine looking film offering an authentic look at a barely better than subsistence form of life populated by folks suspicious of newcomers and of each other, but I couldn’t help but feel this needed a much firmer hand on the storytelling front and Keoghan just too old for the part. Abbott delivers well, and it’s still worth a watch - but television in due course ought to be fine.

Similar Movies

Michael Collins

6.9

Michael Collins

1996

I'm Thinking of Ending Things

6.6

I'm Thinking of Ending Things

2020

West Side Story

7.2

West Side Story

1961

Of Mice and Men

7.3

Of Mice and Men

1992

Breakfast on Pluto

7.2

Breakfast on Pluto

2005

The Last Exorcism

5.7

The Last Exorcism

2010

The Commitments

7.3

The Commitments

1991

The Secret Scripture

7.3

The Secret Scripture

2017

Ryan's Daughter

7.1

Ryan's Daughter

1970

Tornado Valley

6.4

Tornado Valley

2009

War of the Buttons

7.0

War of the Buttons

1994

92 in the Shade

5.5

92 in the Shade

1975

The Railway Station Man

5.9

The Railway Station Man

1992