Seemingly thin on story at first but ultimately rewarding like a cleansing wave of life’s little moments of affection and humanity, this Irish Oscar-nominated directorial debut centres on a young girl’s tenderly introspective view of an adult world of joy, sorrow and the unsaid.
Review #2,634
Dir. Colm Bairead
2022 | Ireland | Drama | 94 min | 1.37:1 | Irish Gaelic & English
PG13 (passed clean) for some strong language and smoking
Cast: Catherine Clinch, Carrie Crowley, Andrew Bennett, Michael Patric, Kate Nic Chonaonaigh
Plot: A quiet, neglected girl is sent away from her dysfunctional family to live with relatives for the summer. She blossoms in their care, but in this house where there are meant to be no secrets, she discovers one.
Awards: Won Grand Prix – Generation Kplus International Jury & Special Mention – Children’s Jury; Nom. for Best First Feature Award (Berlinale); Nom. for Best International Picture (Oscars)
International Sales: Bankside Films
Accessibility Index
Subject Matter: Moderate – Coming-of-Age; Adult World
Narrative Style: Straightforward
Pace: Slightly Slow
Audience Type: Slightly Arthouse
Viewed: The Projector Golden Mile – European Film Fesstival
Spoilers: No
When the Oscar nominees for Best International Feature were announced, it came as a mild surprise that The Quiet Girl nabbed a spot over, say, South Korea’s Decision to Leave. For the first half of this Irish delight, I must admit I wasn’t particularly convinced about where the seemingly thin story would be heading.
Still, there is enough in director Colm Bairead’s (only his first feature) choice of careful pacing and warm, somewhat melancholic, tone to slowly if surely lull us into the world of a young girl, Cait, played by an exquisite Catherine Clinch in her first acting role.
This world, rough-hewn and loud, is turned upside down when her vexatious parents (awaiting the birth of yet another child) temporarily leave her under the care of a couple. This extended stay in a new house that is now quiet, neat and blissful, would change Cait forever in her formative years.
“You don’t have to say anything. There’s many a person missed the chance to not say anything, and lost much by it.”
It is easy to prescribe the ‘coming-of-age’ tag to The Quiet Girl, but the film rewards not simply in seeing a young girl becoming a tad more cognizant towards the complexities of the adult world, but in its portrayal of life’s little moments of affection and humanity.
The Quiet Girl truly elevates itself to a whole new level during its perfectly executed coda, one of the finest endings you’ll see from 2022’s slate of movies.
The adult world is full of joy, sorrow and the unsaid; Cait may feel all of these in more measured ways, but she will in time to come learn to appreciate the gamut of emotions life inevitably brings.
Grade: A-
Trailer:
Music:
Eternality Tan 
[…] Quiet Girl, The (2022) […]
LikeLike