
The acclaimed novel “Small Things Like These” has been adapted into a film starring Academy Award-winner Cillian Murphy.
Based on Claire Keegan’s best-selling book of the same name and produced by Murphy, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck, this new gripping drama follows a coal merchant who discovers unsettling secrets at a local convent run by the Catholic Church. This discovery shakes the foundation of his morality, deeply troubling his psyche and forcing him to confront his difficult past.
Widely acclaimed for its quiet intensity and Murphy’s topnotch acting, as per usual, find out how to watch the Small Things Like These movie in Australia using this guide.
Small Things Like These Australia release date
The Small Things Like These movie premieres in Australian cinemas on Thursday, 10 April 2025.
Release Date | Running Time | Rotten Tomatoes |
---|---|---|
Thur, 10 Apr 2025 | 1h 38m | 93% |
Small Things Like These trailer
Don’t miss the Small Things Like These movie in Australia coming to cinemas from 10 April! Check out the trailer for the new Cillian Murphy-starrer right here:
Is Small Things Like These streaming in Australia yet?
While originally released in 2024, the film has yet to arrive in Australian cinemas. After its April 10, 2025 release date in Australia, it will take around three months or longer for the movie to debut on streaming TV.

Here in Australia, it’s likely for the movie to be streaming on Foxtel and BINGE before heading to Netflix or Prime Video. If you can’t wait to watch the film at home after its theatrical run, it will be initially released on digital streaming via platforms like Apple TV, Google TV, Prime Video Store, and others.
What is Small Things Like These about?
Set in 1985, the film follows Bill Furlong (Cillian Murphy), a hard-working coal merchant with a wife and five daughters. Raised by a struggling single mother ostracised by her own family for falling pregnant unmarried, he grew up to be diligent and fair despite their hard life.
His moral dilemma begins when, while delivering coal to the local convent, finds a young girl named Sarah (Zara Devlin) freezing and locked in the shed. Upon meeting the convent’s Mother Superior, Sister Mary (Emily Watson), Bill realises that the convent and the nuns who run the place mistreat all the girls who live there. Disturbed at the discovery, Bill is advised by the people around him to ignore what he has seen as the church’s social influence is difficult to contend with.
However, the images of cruelty and abuse in the convent begin to haunt the devoted husband and father, forcing him to confront his past. As he grapples with the moral dilemma of inaction to protect his family, finally, he decides to do what his conscience dictates.

The film adaptation of the Small Things Like These book is directed by Tim Mielants and written by Enda Walsh. In addition to Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders, Oppenheimer) and Emily Watson (Dune: Prophecy, Chernobyl), this haunting historical drama also stars Eileen Walsh (Catastrophe, Patrick Melrose), Michelle Fairley (Game of Thrones, Gangs of London), Clare Dunne (Kin, The Wheel of Time), and Agnes O’Casey (Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, Black Doves).
Lead star Cillian Murphy also co-produced the film with Matt Damon, Alan Moloney, Drew Vinton, and Jeff Robinov. Executive producers are Ben Affleck, Kevin Halloran, and Michael Joe.
Other new movies you might like to watch
Wondering what other movies to watch in cinemas? We’ve rounded up some of the latest releases you can watch on the big screen, as well as new and trending films available for streaming online.
This includes Bong Joon-ho’s latest film starring Robert Pattinson, Mickey 17, Steven Soderbergh’s new spy thriller Black Bag starring Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett, Disney’s Snow White starring Gal Gadot and Rachel Zegler, the box-office hit animated film based on Dav Pilkey’s comic books Dog Man, and the highly anticipated A Minecraft Movie, based on the video game of the same name by Mojang Studios.
For new movies you can stream at home on demand, you can watch I Saw the TV Glow, Venom: The Last Dance, Dune: Part Two, Despicable Me 4, The Bikeriders, Maxxxine, Speak No Evil, and It Ends with Us.