Father James (Brendan Gleeson) is told in confessional by a parishioner that he will be killed next Sunday as a sort of sacrifice; the parishioner was abused as a child by another priest. The director reunited with Gleeson after The Guard (2011) for another film that takes rich advantage of its Irish atmosphere. This one has bitter laughs in some of its absurd moments, but it is above all a drama. Father James’s last week that he has been given by his would-be killer becomes a personal road to Calvary involving his troubled daughter and an assortment of quirky villagers. Unpredictable, moving and funny, with stark locations; a towering performance by Gleeson is its finest asset.
2014-Ireland-Britain. 102 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced by Chris Clark, Flora Fernandez-Marengo, James Flynn. Written and directed by John Michael McDonagh. Cast: Brendan Gleeson (Father James), Chris O’Dowd (Jack Brennan), Kelly Reilly (Fiona), Aidan Gillen, Dylan Moran, Isaach de Bankolé… M. Emmet Walsh, Domhnall Gleeson.
Last word: “I knew I was going to kind of rip off the Hitchcock ‘I Confess’ structure, him being threatened and the confession, so I had that as the starting point. I knew it was going to have this Agatha Christie-like ‘Who’s going to do it?’ aspect. Then the framework I found was… people have asked if it’s the Seven Deadly Sins, but it’s actually structured around the five stages of grief, so it’s denial, anger, bargaining, acceptance and hope. Those are the five movements. Once I had that structure, I was more or less ready to go.” (McDonagh, Empire)
