‘The Quiet Girl’: The Stunning Irish Film Making Loud, Shocking Oscars History

Nine-year-old Cáit (Catherine Clinch) is one big, long sigh, and The Quiet Girl is a wrenchingly poignant portrait of her sadness, yearning, and rebirth, alongside two adults in need of similar healing.

Adapted from Claire Keegan’s 2010 short story Foster, and competing for Best International Film at this year’s Academy Awards—the first Irish-language film nominated in the category in Oscars history—Colm Bairéad’s contemplative drama is as superb as any feature debut in recent memory, its power derived from its marriage of graceful writing, subtle direction, and unbearably expressive performances. Movies don’t come much more exquisitely heartbreaking than this.

In rural Ireland circa 1981, Cáit hides in the tall grass surrounding the dilapidated home she shares with a pregnant mother (Kate Nic Chonaonaigh), who views her as an annoyance; a derelict drunken-gambler father named Dan (Michael Patric), who treats her as a burden; and multiple siblings, who stare at her with contempt. Cáit’s soft, smooth features, perpetually bowed head, and downcast eyes suggest her intense vulnerability and anguish.

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