Brilliant and touching

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I watched this at home on DVD from my public library. Don't know why I missed seeing it when it came out but I did.Calvary is the place outside Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified. The name has meaning for this movie because the one week we see of Father James' life parallels the life of Jesus, trying to do what is right and teach others a better way to look at life while sin and corruption is all around him. Brendan Gleeson is Father James, a priest in a small Irish community by the sea where everyone knows everyone else. The story starts with Father James in the confessional, an unseen parishioner is not there to gain absolution for his sins, he tells James that he was sexually abused for several years when he was a young boy. The abusive priest is dead now but to clear his conscience the man will kill Father James a week Sunday, in either days. He tells him to meet him on the beach.So part of the mystery throughout the movie is who the intended killer is? We see him interacting with Father James but we don't know who it is at the end.Not a pleasant movie because of the subject but it is a very good character study of Father James, how he can try to deal with this issue and others.

What a GREAT (and simple) set-up: a small town, a priest, a confession and a threat. Wind it up, and let it go. But this film resisted plot devices and quirkiness and easy answers...it opted for dark and difficult questions. And interesting characters asking them. Unfortunately, it also got to a point where it felt like the "dark and difficult" part was more important than anything else.

I wasn't expecting much from this Irish drama but was pleasantly surprised at the content and thoroughly enjoyed this movie.The ever-reliable Brendan Gleeson plays Father James a quietly well-meaning priest who is threatened by an unknown during confession. The movie shows the following week as Father James tries to go about his duties whilst having the threat hanging over his head.It is no one-man show and excellent support is given by Game of Thrones actor Aiden Gillen as well as Dylan Moran and the 79 year old M.Emmet Walsh along with a few other familiar faces.The sensitive drama, accompanied by some darkly humour and often thought-provoking situations, is brilliantly acted, beautifully shot and is certainly a hidden gem.You will enjoy this movie and also come away thinking a lot about life.

With such a stellar cast, I expected better, but it was as if someone came up with the idea of putting a bunch of well-known Irish actors together, throw in a couple of Americans to keep them happy, and create two-dimensional unlikable characters around a Catholic priest, but who add nothing meaningful to the story. I didn't see the point of the movie at all and felt I'd wasted my time. *spoiler* A man threatens to kill the priest, burns down the church, then kills the priest. *end spoiler* Yes, it was about child abuse by members of the Catholic church, but this movie contributed nothing at all to the debate - *spoiler* a nutter kills a good priest *end spoiler*. And if it was supposed to be a surprise at who had threatened him, it wasn't. I knew the voice of the actor right at the beginning.