Bring Them Down

Bring Them Down is a vital, exacting and sombre film. It's tense and punishing at times and always compelling. It's a story of feuds, revenge and deadly consequences. Set in rural Ireland it tells the story of two neighbouring sheep farming families. Michael lives with his incapacitated father. On the farm next door we find Gary and his wife Caroline and their son Jack. Gary is going through financial difficulties, so Jack decides to steal two of Michael's rams. When Michael finds out it sets off a series of events with dire ramifications. It's often violent, but always achingly true. There is tragedy and repercussions. There is no pretense to this film, it's grim and true in all aspects. Acting is first class, with Christopher Abbott and Barry Keoghan both superb. And the score is effective and strong. A very strong film, that I believe will be hard to shake after seeing it.

'Bring Them Down' is a small-scale Irish revenge drama that delivers a compelling, fascinating and immersive experience.

It's ok, ok... but maybe it lacks of a good punch.

Slow tedious boring. I love Barry Koeghan but even that could not save this movie for me. The only reason I watched it was because I had to pay $5.99 for it.

Grimly violent and unremitting in its misery. Horrible mutilation of livestock. Plot is thin. Yes, it’s intense but there is no real resolution or releif after all.

Writer-director Christopher Andrews' debut feature reminds me of The Banshees of Inisherin, except where all humour and subtlety are replaced with heavy-handed dread and misery. Set in rural Ireland, it's a story of two neighbouring sheep-farming families locked in an increasingly violent rivalry that perhaps could've been resolved if only they break out of their masculine sullenness. It opens with an implied matricide in the past which feels puzzlingly disconnected with the main narrative, before time-jumping into the present where two pairs of fathers and sons lock horns with each other. Christopher Abbott's Michael (a brave American actor wrapping his tongue around Gaelic) and his ill but irascible father, Colm Meaney's Ray are the more traditional and miserable O'Sheas while Barry Keoghan's Jack and Paul Ready's Gary are the financially struggling and equally miserable Keeleys. Interestingly, the story is told first entirely from Michael's POV before we go back to the beginning of the film to fill in the gaps as we see the same events unfold again from Jack's. Meanwhile, Hannah Peel's distinctive score projects a sense of foreboding and tension with a percussive-heavy one for Michael's half, in contrast to Jack's which gets a more modern electro-rap treatment. Quite frankly, not knowing anything about sheep-farming, I can't say I understand why their herds had to be taken down or why someone would want only the sheep's legs but I can accept that on face value here and go with it. Less so is a film that's not quite melodrama and not quite horror either, despite its allusions to both, but more of an atmospheric and symbolic piece, and that atmosphere is an intensely bleak, depressing and dour one where no resolutions are offered, and the men continues dwelling in their miserable silence as the women plot their escapes.

Unnecessary and sensless violance. Perhaps if the characters and backstory was more elaborated, instead of showing the same sequence of events two times, from slightly different perspective, could've been better then. I felt sick in my stomach halfway through. The movie stressed me out without offering much else in terms of insights etc

Typical slow and depressing Irish flick. If you like animals, do not watch this movie. It's like Banshees of Inisherin but with unwarranted brutal animal torture and mutilation. I'm not sure why the Irish are so infatuated with mutilation(in Banshees there was self inflicted human mutilation). This movie was predictable from the beginning. The ending kind of sucks as many things are left unexplained but left for interpretation. NOTE: Make sure you have subtitles on because they randomly speak on and off in Irish throughout the movie.

I didn't stay with this film after several sheep were mutilated or killed, the dog was murdered, and his owner had his ear blown off by a shotgun. Who the hell would think this could be entertaining?

If you thought The Banshees of Inisherin was too cheerful , you may like this film. Depressing, with no characters even close to being happy . in a film that skips back and forth in time to make things a little confusing, including senseless violence and animal cruelty.. A true downer (and BTW I liked Banshees of Inisherin)