The latest release from MUBI hits theaters in the Nashville area this weekend.
If you asked me which studio or streamer gained the most heat heading into 2025, the answer is easy: MUBI. With a strong collection of releases last year that included Bird, Dahomey, The Girl with the Needle, and The Substance, a film which garnered five Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, MUBI has recently gained notoriety that has been well-deserved. And heading into 2025, things are looking up for them. Right out of the gate (and one oddly enough whose story actually involves gates within the subject matter of the film) just over a month into the year, they’re releasing Bring Them Down, which shows a murkier side to Ireland that most American viewers are familiar with. Featuring well-rounded performances from its leads, Bring Them Down tackles conflict and the cycle of violence that binds family and neighboring farmers in an unrelenting fashion where there are no winners.
Despite living with his ailing father, Michael (Christopher Abbott) lives a mostly isolated life in rural Ireland where his shepherding dog is his biggest companion while tending sheep on their farm on top of a hill. Unfortunately, there is strife with the neighboring farm family, Gary (Paul Ready) and his son Jack (Barry Keoghan), who also tend sheep. Due to past conflicts in regard to farming and sharing roadway access in a harsh landscape, the neighbors seemingly hate each other, barely avoiding fisticuffs in every interaction. But a development on one of the farms leads one of the neighbors down a path that spills over and exacerbates the already boiler-level tension between them.
If you’re familiar with farming (especially here in Tennessee), then you know it’s a tough business. So, it is refreshing to show American viewers a situation in a foreign landscape where the prettier side of Ireland normally is shown–even if the conditions also appear harsh for the characters who inhabit this story. Farming conditions like the ones shown here in which every sheep and square foot of land is used emphasize this even more. And by showing the struggles and how they have shaped characters like Michael, Gary, and Jack bring a level of authenticity to this story that, just like their daily lives, is a slow burn.
Of course, Bring Them Down would not work without its cast. While Barry Keoghan (who is seemingly in everything these days) is the most recognizable member of this cast and plays a good, quieter character than what we’re used to seeing him in these days, this story is mostly handled by the older gentlemen, Christopher Abbott and Paul Ready. Veteran actor Ready may not be a familiar name to most, but he is someone whom casting directors should always keep on their radar for a role, and that is clearly evident in this indie film in which he goes to-to-toe with Abbott’s character. And if there’s anyone who needed a film to come out now more than ever, it’s Christoper Abbott. Weeks removed from his role as the titular character in the terrible Wolf Man, Abbott quickly reminds us of his talents in front of the camera as the short-fused Michael and absolves himself from the previously released horror film that hopefully no one will ever speak of again.
Bring Them Down may not be as gripping as viewers might hope it is. But it’s certainly a tense film that is relevant for those who choose to be in the line of work this film presents to viewers. And without spoiling anything, I do think the ending here sticks the landing, despite what others may think. For a film that cycles through violence like sheep raised and sold through livestock markets, etc., director and screenwriter Chris Andrews goes down a modest route you may not expect, but in so doing illuminates the human conditions that affect us all.