Calvary
A compassionate Irish priest navigates a week of parish hostility and personal crisis after receiving a death threat during confession.
Overview
A priest faces an existential crisis as he grapples with a death threat and his own faith.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- bleak
- witty
- sardonic
- quiet evening
- arthouse film night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as an intelligent, sensitive, darkly humorous character drama anchored by Brendan Gleeson's brilliant performance.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Father James is given a one-week death threat, and the plot follows his increasingly pressured efforts to continue his priestly duties before the deadline.
Father James encounters parishioners whose cruelty, despair, resentment, and compromised lives reflect the damaged relationship between the church and its community.
The film places sardonic exchanges and absurd personalities alongside sexual abuse scandals, religious doubt, and an imminent threat of death.
The Irish coastal and village environments are presented as stark, beautiful spaces surrounding Father James's increasingly lonely moral struggle.
Films like Calvary, and why
The Guard
shared blend of darkly comic rural community drama, moral conflict, and a central figure confronting institutional corruption
First Reformed
shared religious themes, bleakly comic tone, spiritual crisis, and intense character-driven drama
In Bruges
shared small-town social tensions, tragic moral pressure, and an ensemble of compromised characters
Movie Details
- Director
- John Michael McDonagh
- Release Date
- 2014-04-11
- Runtime
- 101 min
- Rating
- 7.1 / 10 (1111)
Cast
- Brendan Gleeson
- Chris O'Dowd
- Kelly Reilly
- Aidan Gillen
- Dylan Moran
- Isaach de Bankolé
- M. Emmet Walsh
- Marie-Josée Croze
- Domhnall Gleeson
- David Wilmot
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Calvary about?
- A compassionate Irish priest navigates a week of parish hostility and personal crisis after receiving a death threat during confession.
- What is Calvary like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Calvary as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Calvary violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Calvary as moderate.
- What did critics think of Calvary?
- Critics broadly praised the film as an intelligent, sensitive, darkly humorous character drama anchored by Brendan Gleeson's brilliant performance.
- Which films are like Calvary?
- Films with a similar feel include The Guard, First Reformed, and In Bruges.
- How long is Calvary?
- Calvary runs 101 minutes.
- Where can I watch Calvary?
- In United States, Calvary streams on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads.
