Bring Them Down

Sheep sheep lots of sheep sheep those who are stealers of sheep and those who mutilate sheep for monetary benefit believe it or not and a story of a family who has taken care of sheep for 500 years I guess a movie with good actors playing okay here I am Debbie Downer playing dumb roles dumb characters who basically do dumb things and seem to have no ability to make any good decisions nobody in the whole movie makes really a good decision or they make a half baked one and then go to do what they plan but don't really do what they thought they were going to do sounds like real life but this is not like real life it's just kooky and it ends kooky and the protagonist who isn't a bad feller gets the raw end of the sheep I mean of the stick okay of the sheep it's not really a good movie I endured it but I would not recommend it because it goes round and round and ends up as movies seem to do these days nowhere it's a story that didn't need to be told or made into a movie it's quite dissatisfying and if anyone says it's good or worth watching don't believe it don't believe it baaaaa baaaaaaaa baaaa.

Christopher Andrews' "Bring Them Down" (2024) unfolds like a storm on the horizon; slow-building, inevitable, and impossible to escape

It's a dark fable about grief, guilt, and generational violence wrapped in the raw sinew of a rural Irish revenge tale. But to call it merely a revenge film is too simple. This is a story of festering wounds, both literal and metaphorical, where the past clings like mud on boots and the future is as uncertain as the mist that blankets the hills.

Set against the desolate beauty of Ireland's sheep-farming countryside, the film follows Michael (Christopher Abbott, in a stunning performance that required him to learn Irish for full authenticity), a man crushed under the weight of an old tragedy - a car crash that took his mother's life, leaving his then-girlfriend, Caroline (Nora-Jane Noone), permanently scarred. Hers is a face marked by past violence, a visible reminder of the destruction left in the wake of unchecked male rage.

Now, Michael exists in a limbo of quiet guilt, tending to his father's flock, his penance written in solitude and labor. But when two of his rams go missing, his search reignites an ancient feud, one that will demand fresh blood to settle old debts.

There's something Biblical about Bring Them Down, and not just in its themes of sacrifice and retribution. The violence, when it comes, is wrathful - sudden, punishing, and without mercy. The camera, once composed and watchful, shifts into a frantic, handheld panic, mirroring the chaos that erupts when civility and restraint finally give way.

It's the kind of horror that doesn't just shock - it lingers, staining the landscape like a permanent bruise.

Abbott delivers a brooding, internal performance, his face a mask of quiet suffering. But it's Nora-Jane Noone's Caroline who haunts the film. Hers is the kind of presence that reminds you this isn't just a movie about men and their burdens - it's about the collateral damage they leave behind.

Her scar, a physical mark of past violence, is a stark contrast to Michael's invisible but equally deep wounds.

Barry Keoghan (Jack) and Paul Ready (Gary) deliver standout performances, each embodying a deceptive innocence rooted in old grudges that refuse to fade. Their characters may live in a world that's changing - where technology advances and the local economy shifts - but some feuds run deeper than progress.

And as Gary sets his sights on modernizing the land with vacation homes-Airbnb, really?-the past proves it won't be so easily buried.

And then there's the land itself - windswept, vast, and unforgiving. Andrews, in his feature debut, frames it as both prison and battleground. The sheep farm, the rolling hills, the looming modern development of Gary's (Paul Ready) vacation homes - all of it speaks to a world moving forward while its inhabitants remain shackled to their histories.

At its core, "Bring Them Down" is about cycles. Cycles of violence. Cycles of guilt. Cycles of men making the same mistakes over and over, too stubborn or broken to step away from the path carved for them.

The question Andrews poses is as old as time itself - can these cycles ever be broken? Or are some sins too deep to be forgiven?

Bleak, gripping, and punctuated by moments of pitch-black humor, "Bring Them Down" isn't just a story about vengeance - it's about the ghosts we inherit, the wounds we pass down, and the weight of a past that refuses to stay buried.

It's a conflict drama between neighboring Irish sheep farmers based on faulty talking, faulty listening, and quick tempers. Michael O'Shea (Christopher Abbott) lives with his bitter, disabled father, Ray (Colm Meaney). Before the titles, we learn that 20 years before, Michael recklessly drove a car into an accident that killed his mother, who had just told Michael she was leaving his father, and seriously injured his girlfriend, Caroline (Nora-Jane Noone). Caroline eventually married the next-door farmer, Gary (Paul Ready), and they had a son, now an older teenager, Jack (Barry Keoghan).

Events unfold in escalating hostility between the neighbors, though Caroline tries to maintain the peace. The film's first half tells the story from Michael's perspective; the second half is more from Jack's perspective. When seen together, we learn that accusations based on faulty assumptions and distorted memories lead to increasing violence. The film ends when things have gone too far.

"Bring Them Down" has a double meaning--bringing the sheep down from the hills in winter and bringing down the evil neighbor. The non-linear nature of the story demands focused attention throughout but is rewarding. Abbott, Keoghan, and Noone are excellent. Meaney is memorable but a bit clichéd.

We start with a fairly traumatic car accident that goes some way in explaining just why, many years later, the sheep farming "Michael" (Christopher Abbott) is living with his immobile dad (Colm Meaney) and living a fairly unfulfilled life. Their neighbour calls to advise that a couple of his rams have been found dead on their farm and so when he goes to investigate, we meet "Caroline" (Nora-Jane Noone) who used to be his girlfriend before she left him for "Gary" (Paul Ready) and they had son "Jack" (Barry Keoghan). With no evidence of the corpses, he heads to the market to buy replacements only to find that his neighbours haven't been straight with him and that there's quite enough history here to ensure that "Michael" keeps his mouth shut. Meantime, things aren't proving much better for the couple next door as their farm is struggling to pay it's way and when their young son comes up with an unilateral scheme with his thuggish cousin "Lee" (Aaron Heffernan) to raise, rather brutally, some extra cash then things turn violent and dangerous now with just about every element of trust out the window! This isn't a mystery for the squeamish as it highlights some of the real difficulties faced by hill farmers facing financial difficulties trying to make their inhospitable land pay. The story itself here is a bit of a mess, and though it does gradually start to make a little sense towards the end, for the most part it seems a little too thinly stretched and reliant on the time-shifting chronology to tell us an under-characterised story from differing perspectives as the threads rather far-fetchedly come together at the end. It's a fine looking film offering an authentic look at a barely better than subsistence form of life populated by folks suspicious of newcomers and of each other, but I couldn't help but feel this needed a much firmer hand on the storytelling front and Keoghan just too old for the part. Abbott delivers well, and it's still worth a watch - but television in due course ought to be fine.

This movie has a really simple storyline when you look at it overall. But the director's craft and filming style make it much more engaging, and on top of that, it brings a fresh cinematic experience that we don't often see. One of the things I really liked about this film was the music score. They used a sound that resembles a pulsating beat but blended it with a traditional instrumental feel, which added an intense and unique atmosphere to the film. Since the movie is a thriller set in a rural area, the cinematography is stunning. However, there are quite a few handheld camera shots, which make certain scenes feel more immersive. While that works well for some moments, like close up tension-building shots, it does make action sequences like running or car chases harder to follow at times. When it comes to acting, the performances were solid, and Barry's performance stood out as the best in the film. The movie also does a great job of portraying deep emotional struggles-how parental conflicts affect children, the trauma of losing something precious, and how unresolved emotions can push someone into a state of complete mental breakdown. It also highlights the unintended consequences of human ego in a way that feels incredibly raw and real. These are the elements that make this film truly unforgettable.