Calvary

Parental Rating: R

Contains: Language    Violence    Sex    Drug Use    Adult Content    

Jill's Review

Opens August 8, 2014

Runs 100 minutes

Brendan Gleeson is Father James.  He is one of the Priests in a small parish in the countryside of Ireland. He is a good man who became a Priest later in life. He has seen his share of real life and misery. One day, he is listening to confession when the confessor tells Father James that he is going to kill him. The confessor was abused by a Priest when he was young and he was robbed of his innocence so he is going to kill an innocent Priest in return. He tells Father James that he has one week to get his affairs in order. The town folk are all potential suspects: there is the cheating wife, the crazy butcher and the shady town mechanic who is sleeping with the cheating wife. Every one of them is a sinner but they all choose to blame others for their faults. Any one of them could be the confessor. However, it would seem that Father James knows who is going to kill him but as the date nears and evil things begin to happen, he stands his ground and faces his executioner, like Jesus faced his executioners at Calvary.

This movie is ruthless. There are bits of dark humor and honest faith in God. Then there are the crazy town folk who are all blatant sinners.  Father James seems to feel the need to absorb the sins of his fellow townspeople. He could leave town and never look back but that is not what he does. The result is not pretty. This is not a happy movie. It is dark and sad. But, it is so well acted and the tension really builds at the end. We know that Father James knows who is after him. It is hard to understand how he ends up dealing with it. I liked this movie but it was dark. Be prepared to question why???

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