Calvary

— This is a very good film and extremely well written and Brendan Gleeson is wonderful in the starring role. A priest in a confessional is told he will be killed on the beach in a week, not because he did anything wrong, but because he is innocent and not the priest who abused the man as a young boy. Yes, it opens in a dark place and the rest of the film, as the priest puts his affairs in order and the audience tries to figure out who the murderer will be, is a continuation of the darkness with a very odd bit of humor to it. Everyone in the village seems to have problems and most appear to have more sin than virtue. There is no order in any of the lives, just moments of calm amongst cynicism, desperation and chaos. I’m not sure how much my Catholic education added to my enjoyment of the film but I did notice I snickered and smiled more often than many viewers. Learning the identity of the soon-to-be murderer takes a back seat to an increasing exasperation as everyone burdens the priest with their problems/sins. The film moves carefully to its conclusion, the priest heads for the beach, and everyone’s lives are still in shambles.

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[2014. 100 min. Written and directed by John Michael McDonagh. Starring Brendan Gleeson, Chris O’Dowd, Kelly Reilly, and Aidan Gillen.]
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/apr/13/calvary-review-terrific-black-comedy