The Oscar nominated “The Quiet Girl” or “An Cailin Ciuin” (2022) is a film adaptation of Claire Keegan’s short story or novella “Foster.” Set in 1981, Cait (Catherine Clinch) is the youngest in a family of six with another on the way, and her family and classmates only see her as trouble. Her parents send her to live hours away in Wexford with her mother’s cousin, Eibhlin (Irish version of Eileen) (Carrie Crowley) and Eibhlin’s husband, Sean Cinnsealach (Andrew Bennett) on their farm. Cait finally understands how life could be, but discovers that even in an idyllic place, kind people like Eibhlin and Sean have problems.

I am the problem. I saw a preview for “The Quiet Girl,” and immediately said nope because it seemed sad. I did not want to see another movie about a neglected little girl. Internalized misogyny? A friend kept talking about it and brought it to my attention that it was a notable movie for being an Irish film where the characters speak Irish. Most Irish films have English dialogue. How is it radical and countercultural to speak your own language!?! Global indigenous people cannot get a break. Fucking colonialism! I suddenly was desperate to see the movie before it left theaters, and I went to a local one. Side note: I was trying to learn Irish for fun but stopped when I realized that I was not getting the grammatical structure, which is different from English and romance languages. It is hard stuff! Also I am not great at languages or listening, but in the movie, it sounded as if I was watching a Nordic movie. It was amazing. I also love having subtitles with movies so bonus points. If I had watched it earlier, it would have made my personal list of top ten 2022 films.

“The Quiet Girl” is a perfect example about how an old-fashioned movie does not have to feel dated. The storyline is timeless, and the film even references “Heidi” in a couple of scenes by showing Cait with the book, but it is shocking to realize that it is rooted in a modern time with television, radio, vehicles yet backward thinking and horrible treatment of children can still fluorish. Colm Bairead directed and cowrote the film. There is not much dialogue, and the organic dialogue reflects more about a character’s personality and the relationship dynamic than functions as a prose dump. Bairead shows, rather than tells. A lot of his shots just consist of him setting the camera down and giving the viewer time to digest the environment. He leans on composition and framing. As the film unfolds, it becomes a study of contrasts. 

Environment reflects a person’s character and relationship dynamic. Even though we know what to expect in this type of movie, it feels fresh. Cait’s family home is dark and cluttered. Bairead only shows fractions of people during these scenes. The first shot of Cait is like a landscape “Where’s Waldo.” When she appears, she resembles a dead body discarded in a field rather than a living girl. When Bairead finally shows people’s faces, they are exhausted and worn. The colors of Cait’s family’s home farm are a washed out, dull green.

The Cinnsealach homestead is vibrant, green, neat and bright. On a personal level, I loved Eibhlin’s style: simple pants, shirt and cardigan, hair in a bun. Though Eibhlin is very feminine, she also embraces the casual, gentle, jovial masculinity of her husband and his friends. She wordlessly transmits her displeasure to Cait’s Da (Michael Patric), a quotidian thoughtless, selfish, but typical human villain. In contrast to Cait’s home, there is joy and laughter in this home. Even though there is a deeper story behind Cait’s outfits in “The Quiet Girl,” Eibhlin letting Cait wear boys clothes visually integrates her as part of the family like a uniform. Eibhlin teaches Cait that her body is not a problem. The Cinnsealach family teaches her that it is normal to have daily care tasks and routines, and needs like bathing, urinating, eating are normal, not pathologized as a moral failing. Then they encourage her to delight in her body. She enjoys bathing and running. Once her inner self worth is established and in abundance, she takes pride in maintaining the house and farm.

Bairead does a superb job of establishing, disrupting, altering then adjusting the routine. Sean coexists, but barely interacts with Cait, who is used to such behavior from home, but when Eibhlin helps a neighbor, Cait and Sean spend time together. Their interaction carries over the same dynamic as before until Sean realizes how potentially dangerous that is and gets concerned for Cait’s safety without his supervision. He comes upon Cait imitating him by cleaning out another area with a brush broom, but his reaction startles her. She interprets it as hostile, but he is releasing fear. He makes up for it by surreptitiously giving her a treat. They then find a way to joyfully interact while executing mundane chores. When Eibhlin returns, Cait gets to delight in the lavish attention and companionship of the two. It is the first time that she receives any positive attention or enjoys a normal life. She is not actually a quiet girl. She talks quite a bit given the right audience. 

I found it interesting that the only times that Cait was in danger with the Cinnsealach family was when she resumed wearing girl clothes or other children were present. I related to the latter. Cait is quiet as a defense mechanism, but in Wexford, women casually interrogate her to find out someone else’s business. It is only with Una, a woman who Eibhlin allows to watch Cait after a wake, when Cait asks a question and becomes curious. In subsequent scenes, Bairead shows Cait watching Eibhlin and Sean share a tender, intimate mutual moment of love over the kitchen sink or touch a table to judge its cleanliness. The wake is the first time that she dresses as a girl in Wexford, and when she notices Una’s kids, who are brawling with each other, the children also peer at her. It is this huge moment of tension and fraught with potential for conflict. It feels like we are holding our breath. Cait’s tribulations are not just because of her family’s neglect, but because of the casual, brutish nature of other children in “The Quiet Girl.” It felt as if these kids were gradually redirecting their hostility from each other to her, but there was a time delay. As soon as she is back with Eibhlin and Sean, she takes off the poncho, never to be worn again, and is quiet once more. The overt reason is the discovery of their past but it is also her self-preservation instinct to get quiet and hide in the presence of children. Kids are a sullen threat.

I am not going to get into the ending except to say WHY ARE YOU STILL READING THIS!?! SEE THE MOVIE ALREADY! It is a sweet, lovely film, and Irish filmmakers had a great 2022 with “The Quiet Girl” and “The Banshees of Inisherin” (2022).