Bring Them Down

Certain stretches of Bring Them Down should be accompanied by on-screen text reminding viewers to breathe — including the opening scene. 

While most filmmakers wait at least a few minutes before cranking up the tension, writer/director Christopher Andrews shows he's a different kind of talent, going from zero to 60 as a casual drive in the Irish countryside quickly turns terrifying.

Jump forward an ambiguous amount of time and the erratic driver, Michael O’Shea (Christopher Abbott), is running the family sheep farm for his disabled father Ray (Colm Meaney). Based on his mastery of the Irish language that the O’Shea men exchange, you wouldn't know Abbott is from Connecticut. But if you don't already consider him one of the top actors of his generation, wholly capable of handling such an assignment, you haven't been paying attention.

Abbott’s skills come to the forefront when a pair of the O’Sheas’ prized rams are allegedly found dead on a neighboring farm that belongs to Gary (Paul Reedy, The Terror), husband to Michael's ex Caroline (Nora-Jane Noone, Brooklyn), the only other survivor of the aforementioned car crash. However, something about the news doesn't quite feel right, particularly the claim by Gary and Caroline’s son Jack (Barry Keoghan) that the bodies have already been disposed of and can’t be viewed for verification.

This suspicious report kickstarts a series of suspenseful events as Michael gets to the bottom of the missing livestock. Tensions run high between the three men, building to one particularly grisly discovery enacted in such harrowing and raw fashion that one can barely believe this is Andrews’ feature debut.

That sense of awe continues after a witty perspective shift that chronicles the mysterious events through Jack’s eyes. Though viewers can see pretty quickly how everything falls into place, the solution arguably proves even more dramatically rich knowing the tragedy that awaits.

Nevertheless, once the parallel narrative strands entwine, Bring Them Down oddly loses momentum. Yet while their inevitable collision lacks the explosive nature of Michael and Jack’s fiery individual adventures, it still gets to a fairly satisfying place that honors the treacherous path there.

In turn, Andrews' impressive debut might not be the first great film of 2025, but it's not far off that mark.

Grade: B-plus. Rated R. Now playing at Regal Biltmore Grande.

(Photo: Patrick Redmond)