Cillian Murphy on Taking an Awards Season Break With Berlin Opener ‘Small Things Like These,’ Getting the ‘Band Back Together’ for ’28 Days Later’ Sequels
variety.comAlex Ritman With the 2023-24 awards season galloping towards the finish line, the whirlwind of ceremonies, red carpets, dinners and other glitzy occasions for feted stars of the moment to be feted some more is keeping most of the nominees exceptionally busy.
Among the busiest must be Cillian Murphy, tipped to add both Oscar and BAFTA wins to the Golden Globe he’s already won for his lead turn in “Oppenheimer.” But just as his diary demands reach near farcical levels of back-to-back events, the Irish actor is making a quick detour to Germany to open the Berlinale.
Festival curtain-raiser “Small Things Like These” may be a much less explosive film than “Oppenheimer,” but it’s no less thought-provoking or powerful, based on the Booker Prize-nominated book by Claire Keegan (who also wrote “The Quiet Girl,” which became the recent Irish-language hit film).
Murphy stars as a Bill, a soft-spoken coal delivery driver in and devoted father in 1980s Ireland who uncovers disturbing activity at the local convent — led by Emily Watson’s terrifying nun Sister Mary — that challenges his own internal traumas. “Small Things Like These,” produced and financed by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s Artists Equity, is also the first feature from Murphy’s new company, set up alongside producer Alan Maloney and called, ironically, Big Things Films.
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