Bring Them Down
There’s nothing subtle about Bring Them Down, but this is a mightily impressive debut, bringing something of the sanguinary spirit of Sam Peckinpah to the fields of Wicklow.
Directed by Chris Andrews
Starring Christopher Abbott, Barry Keoghan, Colm Meaney
Opens 7 February 2025
8/10
“A lot of my stories start like biblical fan-fiction,” said Chris Andrews back in 2019. “I’ll take the parable of the good shepherd, but I’ll kill all the sheep as opposed to saving them.” And that’s as succinct a precis of Bring Them Down, the writer-director’s debut feature, as you’re likely to find.
It’s like a more brutal, blasted take on The Banshees of Inisherin. Christopher Abbot is a sheep farmer in the west of Ireland, living with his ageing, raging old man (Colm Meaney). Their neighbours are plotting to leave behind the farming game, building holiday homes on their land, but their teenage son, Jack (a sly, surly Barry Keoghan) isn’t above a bit of rustling in the mean time, stealing Michael’s rams and attempting to sell them as his own. Tensions between the two families fester and escalate, eventually building to a blood-soaked climax up in the hills above the farm.
There’s nothing subtle about Bring Them Down, but this is a mightily impressive debut, bringing something of the sanguinary spirit of Sam Peckinpah to the fields of Wicklow.
