A cultural moment which is a gift to Christians

Every now and then a film comes along, or some other cultural moment, which you just know is an absolute gift to the preacher or evangelist seeking to communicate the good news of Christ.

Think Chariots of Fire, Schindler’s List, The Matrix, Apocalypse Now or The Tree of Life. I recently saw another quiet masterpiece – which was so deeply moving because it reflected so beautifully the fractured needs of humanity – and, at least to me, indicated how suitable the Good News of Jesus is for such needs.

The Quiet Girl is a 2022 Irish coming-of-age film, mostly spoken in Irish Gaelic. It is set in the 1980s and tells the story of a withdrawn quiet nine-year-old girl from a dysfunctional home taken to distant relatives on a farm in the Irish countryside. It’s a film based on the novella Foster, by Claire Keegan. The film is a masterpiece – wonderful cinematography, beautiful scenery, an understated and thus even more emotionally effective storyline, and above all, the acting, mean that it has already received numerous film award nominations – and has become the highest grossing Irish language film of all time. Reviewers, and normal people, love it!

I won’t tell you the plot – except to say that there is not much of it. If you are going to the movies looking for an action flick, a romantic comedy, or a deeply complicated plot full of twists and turns, forget it. I don’t know who managed to sell this to the film industry, but they are a genius. A story which consists of little more than a young, quiet Irish girl sent by her struggling family to stay with distant relatives on a dairy farm for the summer and then returning to her parents is hardly a home run in movie terms. But if you are interested in human interaction, the power of kindness, the beauty and ugliness of humanity, then this is the perfect film for you. It also helps if you appreciate the Irish scenery: as someone who grew up on a farm in the not-dissimilar Scottish Highlands, it was particularly evocative for me – not least in the description of a sadly all too common farm tragedy.

What is especially stunning is the performance of Catherine Cinch as the nine-year-old Cait. If there were just reward in this world, she would be a cinch for an Oscar! How she manages to convey so much by her quiet looks and gentle comments on the world is astonishing.

There are issues not just of family relationships, but also questions of manhood (not all men are bad); abuse; family secrets (a healthy family does not have secrets); poverty; alcohol; and the importance of a loving home. The beauty of this film is that it is not what I would term ‘poverty porn’, or misery joy. One review described it as having ‘no overt violence, just a feeling of grim withholding in a house that lacks money, laughter and joy’. The farm she goes to has its own sorrows and lack of money, laughter and joy – but somehow, it’s different. In the midst of deep sorrow there is profound beauty and joy.

The same reviewer described The Quiet Girl as ‘a small, perfect, and very moving film told with an unerring hold on its subject, and it reminds us how much art and power there can be in simple storytelling’.

And therein lies the connection for the gospel. This is not a Christian film – in the sense that it was made by Christians to tell the Christian story or as some kind of Christian analogy. But it does help us to tell the gospel story because it tells part of the human story – and it is into that human story that the gospel comes. Unlike some ‘Christian’ films, it is hopeful without being sugary. Unlike some ‘realistic’ secular films, it is understated and yet the depths of emotion that it instils is like something I have rarely experienced. You feel the pain, the loss, the ugliness as well as the beauty and hope.

We need to learn to tell the gospel of Christ in a way which connects with our basic humanity and portrays something of the complexity of humanity. Unlike The Quiet Girl, the gospel offers a deep and real answer to the questions being asked. Perhaps we could learn that sometimes a quiet word at just the right time is what is needed.

‘A man finds joy in giving an apt reply – and how good is a timely word!’ (Prov. 15:23)