Bring Them Down
Writer-director Christopher Andrews brings us a notable first feature centred on a feud between rival Irish sheep farmers.
Barry Keoghan and Christopher Abbott
Image courtesy of Mubi.
It is no surprise that for this film Christopher Andrews won the 2024 British Independent Film award as best debut director. He is also its writer and the film is made with an assurance that is striking. On paper it sounds far more routine than it actually is since this rural tale set in Connemara concerns the rivalry between two sheep farming families which becomes something of a blood feud. This leads to rustling in which sheep are mutilated, the hind legs cut off and traded in what can be profitable deals. Violent revenge dramas of one kind or another can be considered standard cinematic fare these days and early reviews of Bring Them Down stressing the grim nature of the piece made it sound consciously vicious. But in the event, dark as this work is, it is in no way an exploitation piece and it dwells on the violence far less than I had been led to expect (which is not to say that discomforted animal lovers won’t elaborate certain scenes in their minds and thus feel that they have seen more than they would wish).
Shot in wide screen by Nick Cooke, Bring Them Down is essentially focused on two men whose fathers are neighbouring farmers. The older of the two is Michael (Christopher Abbott) who has taken on the key role of shepherd and lives with his ailing paraplegic father, Ray (Colm Meaney), who, despite his state, still calls the tune. Much younger is Jack (Barry Keoghan) whose parents are Gary (Paul Ready) and Caroline (Nora-Jane Noone) and there is an extra potential for tension in that Caroline, whose relationship with her husband has deteriorated, had once been Michael’s girlfriend. But the feud between the two families runs far deeper with Ray reacting strongly on hearing that two of his rams have been found dead by Jack and becoming totally outraged on subsequently discovering that the rams far from being dead have been passed off as his own by Gary and taken to market.
But before all this emerges Bring Them Down offers a short prologue set many years earlier. It’s a slightly enigmatic scene involving a car crash and featuring dramatic music by Hannah Peel which is bold but effective as too is the way in which Andrews directs the sequence. His sense of atmosphere carries through to the main narrative which has intensity and often features night scenes which add to that. In addition, the sense of place is emphasised by having much of the dialogue in Irish with English subtitles. At times, however, Andrews seems more sure-footed as a director than he is as a writer. The bitter rivalry that drives the drama is immediately felt but at times one feels that it calls for more detail and background than is offered. Furthermore, there is a sudden switch back in time halfway through the film for which no real preparation is set up: we witness events already seen from Michael's viewpoint but now revisited and expanded and this time presented from Jack's perspective. We soon adjust to this but the transition feels clumsy.
Another issue that arises stems from Andrews choosing to drive straight into the extreme antagonism rather than to build towards it. This initially limits the viewer’s ability to feel sympathy for any of the characters. For quite a while it is the technical mastery and the talented cast that carry the film. It is only in the second half of Bring Them Down that we start to feel emotionally involved. By then we are learning more about the harsh conditions of life in this area and can feel sympathy for the put-upon Caroline well played by Nora-Jane Noone. More importantly still, what now emerges is the extent to which being tied to this place both Michael and Jack are sons inescapably caught up in the feud between their fathers. In particular, the younger Jack can only dream of life elsewhere and, feeling himself pressurised into being part of the violent behaviour, only gradually comes to recognise the need to resist.
Although Abbott is American, he fits most convincingly into this Irish setting, but it is Keoghan as Jack who makes the strongest impression in what is indeed the more rewarding role. This is all the more striking because that other big name of the moment, Paul Mescal, was originally cast as Jack but filming was delayed and he became unavailable. Keoghan was then asked to take the part and one now feels certain that we have the right actor for this particular role (indeed his involvement extends to he and Abbott both being credited as executive producers). The last section of Bring Them Down could in the wrong hands have become ludicrous with Michael and Jack coming face-to-face at a time when they simultaneously want to break away from the violence yet are driven to fulfil their role in it. Andrews and his leading players bring this off and leave us taking it seriously as we come to recognise the extent to which, regardless of any age difference, Michael and Jack share the same situation as two individuals both of whom are trapped by being sons growing up under family pressures of an extreme kind.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Barry Keoghan, Christopher Abbott, Colm Meaney, Nora-Jane Noone, Paul Ready, Aaron Heffernan, Susan Lynch, Adam Behan, Diarmuid de Faoite, Gail Fitzpatrick, Youssef Quinn, Grace Daly, Tom Leavey.
Dir Christopher Andrews, Pro Ivana MacKinnon, Jacob Swan Hyam, Ruth Treacy, Julianne Forde, Jean-Yves Roubin and Cassandre Warnauts, Screenplay Christopher Andrews, from a story by Christopher Andrews and Jonathan Hourigan, Ph Nick Cooke, Pro Des Fletcher Jarvis, Ed George Cragg, Music Hannah Peel, Costumes Hannah Bury.
Tailored Films/Wild Swim Films/Frankas Productions/Voo & Be tv/Shelter Production-Mubi.
105 mins. Ireland/UK/Belgium. 2024. UK and US Rel: 7 February 2025. Cert. 15.
