Synopsis
In darkest rural Ireland, ex-boxer Douglas 'Arm' Armstrong has become the feared enforcer for the drug-dealing Devers family, whilst also trying to be a good father to his autistic five-year-old son, Jack. Torn between these two families, Arm's loyalties are truly tested when he is asked to kill for the first time.
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Cast
- Cosmo JarvisArm
- Barry KeoghanDympna
- Niamh AlgarUrsula
- Ned DennehyPaudi
- David WilmotHector
- Simone KirbyJune
- Anthony WelshRob
- Roisin O'NeillFatima
- Hazel DoupeCharlie
- Toni O'RourkeLisa
Recommendations
- 91
The Film Stage
The result might not be unique in its narrative about a misunderstood man devoid of the means to get out of his own way, but Calm with Horses is stunning in its execution nonetheless. - 80
CineVue
Calm with Horses’ driving concern – the corrosive nature of violence on the self – is rendered in brutal, empathic precision, while the recovery of its protagonist’s humanity as it teeters on the cliff edge is simply heartbreaking. - 80
The Observer (UK)
Buoyed by Joe Murtagh’s screenplay, which keeps the warring elements of the narrative elegantly balanced throughout, the excellent ensemble cast create a complex emotional ecosystem through which our troubled antihero stumbles in search of his identity. - 80
Screen Daily
And as a statement of intent, it’s unequivocal: Rowland combines striking visual flair with razor-wire character studies. - 75
Movie Nation
First-time feature director Nick Rowland makes the violence in-your-face and the scenes where Arm starts to struggle with it wrenching. Dude stages a mean Irish backroads car-chase, too. - 63
RogerEbert.com
The film's poetry is like the close-up of the clenched fist that Rowland uses to introduce us to his character study — there’s a thoughtfulness behind the tight fingers, maybe even a broken soul, but its expression is that of a blunt object. - 60
The Guardian
It’s powerfully and pugnaciously acted, and horses are brought in – as animals often are in social-realist movies – as symbols of redemptive nobility. But I felt that in narrative terms it turned into a cul-de-sac of macho violence. - 60
The Irish Times
Full marks for character and setting. Less enthusiastic hurrahs for narrative arc.
