After Little things like thatThe film to watch is a similar drama from 2002 to learn more about life in Ireland during the 20th century. Little things like that is adapted from the 2021 novel by Claire Keegan and depicts the everyday life of coal merchant Bill Furlong, who becomes increasingly suspicious of the work of his town’s Magdalene laundry and struggles to decide whether to remain silent or retaliate. The film stars Cillian Murphy, who also served as producer on his first film since his Oscar-winning performance in Oppenheimer.
Little things like that it received highly positive reviews and has been described as a harrowing and dark depiction of the power of the Catholic Church in Ireland during the 1980s. It shows how people in Ireland were bribed and blackmailed into remaining silent about what happened behind closed doors. Another acclaimed drama, The Magdalene Sistersalso reveals what happened behind the doors of the Madalena laundry and should be watched after the success of Little things like that.
The Madalena Sisters portray what life was like inside the laundries
The film won the Golden Lion at the 2002 Venice Film Festival
Directed by Peter Mullan, The Magdalene Sisters tells the stories of Margaret, Bernadette and Rose, who are sent to a Magdalene asylum after being considered “fallen women“in Irish society. Margaret spoke about being attacked, Bernadette was seen as “very promiscuous,” and Rose had a child out of wedlock. They are forced to work long hours in the laundry in poor conditions and endure the cruelty and humiliation of the nuns, led by the sinister Sister Bridget. The girls face the rest of their lives incarcerated, but they they are determined to escape.
The Magdalene Sisters was based on the testimonies of four Madalena survivors from the 1998 documentary Sex in a cold climate, one of the first to reveal the cruel realities of life inside the Madalena laundries (via Embrião Project Encyclopedia). Launched in 2002, The Magdalene Sisters was described by critics as “a deliberately provocative film” and “an unflinching, harsh but captivating glimpse“of the cruelty of the Madalena laundries (via Rotten tomatoes). As of 2024, the film has a score of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
The Magdalene Sisters and Little Things Like These Explore the Theme of Secrecy
Both films depict the horrors of the Magdalene laundries in Ireland
Throughout the 20th century, the Madalena laundries were rife with rumors of abuse and mistreatment, but it was only with the discovery of a mass grave of inmates in 1993 that the true horrors of the asylums were revealed to the public (via The Irish Times). Both The Magdalene Sisters and Little things like that offer a dark and moving vision in the true story of the Madalena laundries and the suffering of imprisoned women. Both films also explore the theme of secrecy in society and show the consequences of speaking out against what is seen.
In The Magdalene Sistersthe girls are presented at a public event as obedient and repentant to protect the laundry’s reputation, while, behind closed doors, they are threatened and ridiculed by the nuns. Meanwhile, Bill is warned by different characters in Little things like that keep quiet about what you see whenever you deliver coal to the laundry. The Magdalene Sisters and Little things like that use different perspectives to tell their stories – the imprisoned women in the first and a working-class man in the second – but both are profoundly accurate, intense, and moving in their portrayal.
Sources: Embrião Project Encyclopedia, Rotten tomatoes, The Irish Times