Christopher Abbott is one of my absolute favourite actors working today. Whether it be his more serious roles like Possessor & James White, or his more comedic performances like Black Bear & Poor Things, or a combination of both like in Sanctuary & On the Count of Three, he seems to nail it every time. Suffice to say, Abbott is on a short list of actors I consider must watch every time they have a new film, and this one also featuring the great Barry Keoghan made it one I couldn't miss at the festival.
Bring Them Down follows Michael (Abbott), the son of an aging shepherd who is tasked with most of the work caring for their family's sheep. When a conflict arises with a neighboring farmer and his son Jack (Keoghan), the calm lives of everyone involved are throw into chaos.
This is another bleak film from this year's TIFF lineup. It opens on a flashback with Michael's mother and girlfriend in the car as he drives but is not shown on screen. His mother tells him something upsetting and he loses control, crashing the car and taking her life. This is only the beginning of what is a discomforting watch from start to finish, but by no means in a bad way. I will say, if you have an issue with violence against animals this is one you'll want to avoid, as there are a few pretty rough scenes that even I had trouble stomaching. These moments are crucial though in ratcheting up the tension between the two families and build this up as a truly tense thriller.
I'd say pretty much without question the biggest draw here is Abbott's performance. We see actors from the UK and Ireland put on American accents all the time, but it's rare to see an American actor successfully slip into theirs. Even rarer is seeing an American actor take on another language, yet here we see Abbott not only nail the Irish accent but the language in many moments as well. The majority of the film is in English but any scene of Michael and his father is all the native Irish tongue and Abbott nails it. Even aside from that though, this is one of those quiet performances where it always feels as though something is boiling trying to reach the surface, and Abbott manages to make the character gripping despite being soft spoken much of the time.
I thought Barry Keoghan would be a co-lead but he really takes on a supporting role here. It's surprising as there's a narrative choice that puts the focus on him for a bit, but despite that this feels like Abbott's movie. Keoghan is good though, he brings a naivety that works well in contrast with Abbott's performance. Another key performance is Nora-Jane Noone who plays the adult version of Michael's girlfriend from the opening scene. Now she is married to Jack's father, leading to an internal tension between her ex-boyfriend and her husband, with neither side really operating in a morally right way.
There is one big choice with this film that hindered my enjoyment. As I mentioned before, the story focuses on Jack for a bit, but the way in which it does so really didn't work for me. It takes on a Rashomon approach, retelling events that have happened from Jack's point of view. On the surface this isn't an issue, but for the first few scenes once we bounce back it isn't clear that the events on screen have already happened. It kind of just feels like a similar turn of events is happening, so when you realize we are retreading those events it just feels clunky and unnatural. It isn't a choice that completely ruins the film, I still enjoyed it quite a bit, but it left a sour taste with me I couldn't fully shake. There are also some moments of very shaky handheld cinematography that was just too janky to follow in my opinion, especially in contrast to the rest of the film which is shot quite well.
All in all I'm very glad I saw this, as the performances especially from Abbott are among the best I've seen this year. The issues I mentioned before hold it back from being amazing but not from being a good thriller. Strong 3.5/5
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