Review : Calvary

Calvary : Brendon Gleeson plays a priest who receives a death threat from a member of the village where he currently resides at the local parish. But who would threaten a man of god, who is a good man, that has done no harm to anyone?

Hello All

Welcome to my latest film review, today I will be reviewing 'Calvary' a film supported by the national lottery and British film institute. Brendon Gleeson who was in Harry Potter, plays a priest who has served his life at his current parish very well, has helped people in confession and above all is a good man, who has never harmed anyone.

In confession he is threatened by an anonymous person who we have yet to find out of his or her identity who threatens this priest, with peril on his life. The story goes that this person was abused as a child, by a bad man who has long passed and to vow his revenge on what happened to him in the past, he chooses to punish a good man who has done nothing to anyone. There is more point to this later portrayed on within gesture of the vile people in this small village.

The anonymous person says that will kill Brendon Gleeson on the next Sunday, on a beach. The priest agrees to meet this anonymous person and that is where the film begins. The film itself is very interesting indeed. It's a black comedy. It's a drama, It's got that Irish culture, it's an all Irish cast, its got Irish roots there's not one thing about this film that isn't Irish. It is many things when you think about it. The story is what we believe to be the last week of the main characters life, especially as he's been threatened and the rest of film is him trying to find out who it is.

What I love about this film is, It is relatable to the classic mystery stories. It has its moments of drama, and suspense and mystery, but unlike a normal whodunit, it's more of a 'who's going to do it?' because Brendon Gleeson investigates in something that hasn't happened yet. But I will tell you Brendon's performance in this is absolutely incredible. It is superb. I can't fault him, he stole the show for me and out shone the rest of the cast by a mile.

The casting for this is really good, it's an all Irish cast. It's a bit like 'The Weir' if you haven't seen it. I recommend that you do. It's got some famous names, Aiden Gillan, Dillan Moran, Chris O Dowd, Kelly Rielly which helps to sell it and avaid people into it. We have a small village and everyone within this village is vile, apart from Brendon Gleeson and his daughter who is played by 'Kelly Rielly' known for films such as 'Sherlock Holmes' and 'Flight'. I think the Irish culture behind it, gives it a nice, raw atmospheric background to it, which is refreshing regarding the authenticity of the way it's filmed.

It's a natural drama, which is very clean cut and slow paced and just sort of takes it's time to go through every minor detail, because every minor detail is important. If you like your drama, and you like suspense and you like mystery stories then I'd recommend you give this a go, because it's a cultural Irish film with Irish roots and it's funny. I think that's the problem with it, people don't realize that it's actually funny. Which is a mistake in miscommunication, it's so mild in drama, I for one wouldn't look upon this as a black comedy. It's only after watching it, you think about stuff in more detail.

Overall, keeping it short. I really like this film and everything Irish about it. 8/10

NEXT : I will review Bridesmaids.