The mournful score and chilly, bleak visual soul serve as a fitting backdrop. Cillian Murphy once again adds utmost gravitas to the truly difficult part tinged with childhood trauma, but one that I believe actually detracts from the film due to its prominence - almost entering saviour territory. Now obviously the aim is to showcase the blind eye everyday people clearly had towards the obvious ongoings, but as the end credits started to roll, I couldn't help but wish that this had focused just slightly more on those impacted by the extensively atrocious events, delivering a genuine glimpse into the church's deception and a room to remember those who suffered, as well as a character study with some actual complexity and flashbacks that did not appear cluttered and oddly placed. This is something I really wanted to like, as appalling historic secrets like this need more coverage, but sadly it didn’t work for me nearly as well as hoped. Also granted, I know nothing of the original material, so unsure how much it matches up