The Quiet Girl (2022)

Set in 1981 and based on Claire Keegan’s novel Foster, Colm Bairead’s gorgeous adaptation follows a withdrawn nine year old, Cáit, who is part of a dysfunctional family with many siblings, and whose parents show little interest in her struggles at home or at school. After her Mother falls pregnant again, Cáit is sent to live at a distant cousins house for the summer (Eibhlín and her husband Seán) in rural Waterford. What follows is one of 2022’s best films, rightly nominated for Best Foreign Language film at the Oscars, but wrongly not nominated for Best Picture.

The performances are exceptional, most notably newcomer Catherine Clinch who is astonishing as Cáit. Her nuanced and thoughtful performance captures so much in her facial expressions and gestures alone, and her gradual relationship arc with Eibhlín and Seán is perfectly paced, as she begins to unfurl the couple's buried secret and comes to understand them more as a result.

The Quiet Girl is almost entirely in the Irish language, an experience that here in the UK especially, is a rarity, and it’s beautifully supplemented by Kate McCullough’s wonderful cinematography resulting in every single shot feeling like a work of art. Incredibly moving and at times tragic, The Quiet Girl is nevertheless as amusing as it is sad, and is subsequently a masterclass in cinema; even more impressive for the fact that it’s Colm Bairead’s debut full length feature. Whatever he does next will really have to go some to be as impressive as The Quiet Girl. 8.9/10