In his first role since his Oscar-winning turn in ‘Oppenheimer’, Cillian Murphy returns to his roots in the intimate Irish historical drama SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE with a masterclass performance in subtlety and nuance. Based on the award-winning novel of the same name by Claire Keegan (who also wrote the novel that inspired the Palace favourite ‘The Quiet Girl’), the quietly affecting drama is a worthy adaptation and a searing exploration of morality. While working as a coal merchant to support his family in 1985, devoted father Bill Furlong (Murphy) discovers disturbing secrets kept by the local convent — and uncovers truths of his own — forcing him to confront his past and the complicit silence of a small Irish town controlled by the Catholic Church. Sensitively adapted by playwright Enda Walsh (reuniting with Murphy following their 2001 film ‘Disco Pigs’) and astutely directed by Tim Mielants, the sombre small-town story is an absorbing slow burn that reveals uncomfortable horrors lurking just below the surface.