"The Quiet Girl" - Film Review
The Quiet Girl is the Republic of Ireland’s entry to the Best International Feature category for the 2023 Oscars. Its focus is on a nine-year-old girl, Cáit (Catherine Clinch), as she grows up in rural Ireland in the 1980s. Because of a new baby on the horizon, Cáit is sent to live with relatives she has never met before, Eibhlín (Carrie Crowley) and Seán (Andrew Bennett). Their gentle lifestyle is a stark contrast to the reality Cáit has known. In the care of Eibhlín and Seán, Cáit begins to flourish, but there’s a secret waiting to be revealed.
The title of the film is misleading. Is Cáit deemed quiet because that’s her actual personality or because that’s the role she has been forced into? Her parents (Michael Patric and Kate Nic Chonaonaigh) would tell you it’s the former. That she may not speak a lot, but she’s a burden. Just another mouth to feed, and one who is more burden than joy. Eibhlín and Seán would tell you that it’s the latter. That Cáit is a bright, lively kid if she’s given the chance. That is the problem for Cáit. Her parents have never given her an opportunity to flourish. They have never afforded her the kindness of allowing Cáit to be herself.
Inscéal, Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland, TG4
The Quiet Girl is a bit of a magic trick. People seem to think that creating a family and raising a child are simple actions. Merely pit stops or to-do list entries that are easily completed. That’s certainly not the case, and The Quiet Girl recognizes that. The film doesn’t show the full extent of what Cáit’s life was like with her Da and Mam, but it’s through the implications within the script that the audience can begin to understand Cáit’s reality. We don’t need to see it because we see how much the smallest gestures from Eibhlín and Seán mean to Cáit. The biscuit Seán gives to Cáit, the way Eibhlín brushes Cáit’s hair, and the home they create together says more than any violence or neglect ever could.
The Quiet Girl reveals the power of generosity, love, and attention. How Eibhlín and Seán treat Cáit should not be deemed radical or be considered unusual, but that’s the unfortunate reality for so many children. They’re so used to their own personal normal, where they’re mistreated and disrespected, that the concept of affection is foreign. That should never be the case.
Family is not about blood and genetics, it’s about choice. Consciously deciding to bring life into this world and to nurture that small baby into a person who reflects the kindness they were taught as they grew up. For as gentle and earnest as The Quiet Girl is, the film is full of rage. An angry plea to give a damn about kids and to treat them with as much kindness as humanly possible. That is the bare minimum.
Follow me on BlueSky, Instagram, Letterboxd, & YouTube. Check out Movies with My Dad, a new podcast recorded on the car ride home from the movies.