BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

john-64138 The synopsis of the film can be summed up with a scene at the end. The murderer has killed the priest's dog by slitting it its throat. The priest is distraught and cries. The murderer at the end has the innocent priest in his gun sights and asks if the priest cried when his dog died. The priest answers, yes. The murderer asks if the priest cried when kids were being raped. No, the priest didnt cry, he was somehow detatched. Bang the first shot goes off to the priest's chest. The murderer is in rage: the priest cried for his dog yet not for the raped kids. Closeup: headshot with brains splattered everywhere. The murderer executes the priest. The christian church worldwide has much to answer for, how sexual assault was condoned, tollerated, protected for years. Yet this continues today. :-(

v-ley The title and the explanation of the film are very misleading. I thought maybe it was more about the supernatural or even something more sinister. Instead it was a highly entertaining and serious movie that I couldn't stop watching. Brendan Gleeson is really under rated as an Actor but this movie allows him to shine, along with all of those around him. What a great "sleeper" movie. You'll be very glad you took the time to watch it.

juddynz With such a stellar cast, I expected better, but it was as if someone came up with the idea of putting a bunch of well-known Irish actors together, throw in a couple of Americans to keep them happy, and create two-dimensional unlikable characters around a Catholic priest, but who add nothing meaningful to the story. I didn't see the point of the movie at all and felt I'd wasted my time. *spoiler* A man threatens to kill the priest, burns down the church, then kills the priest. *end spoiler* Yes, it was about child abuse by members of the Catholic church, but this movie contributed nothing at all to the debate - *spoiler* a nutter kills a good priest *end spoiler*. And if it was supposed to be a surprise at who had threatened him, it wasn't. I knew the voice of the actor right at the beginning.

Leofwine_draca CALVARY is a disappointing and depressing Irish drama about a Catholic priest in Ireland struggling with life in the present day. He finds himself the subject of a death threat thanks to one of his congregation who was abused by another priest as a child and encounters characters with various hang-ups who seem to delight in taking their problems out on him.I had a feeling that this wouldn't make for much in the way of entertainment and I was right. CALVARY is a gloomy and pointless movie that seems to be destined to assuage Catholic guilt more than anything else. There's no real story here, just the main character interacting with other characters before an inevitable outcome. No shock, no surprise, no involvement, just endless nihilism.The one thing the film has going for it is Brendan Gleeson in the lead role. He's big and warm-hearted and keeps you watching despite his character's deficiencies. The supporting cast is less assured. Kelly Reilly is unconvincing as the supposedly sympathetic daughter character while Chris O'Dowd is out of place and acting rather than living his role. Aiden Gillen is reliably sinister. M. Emmet Walsh has a random cameo. I knew Domhnall Gleeson would show up somewhere and he doesn't have much to offer either. If I want gritty Irish realism I think I'll stick to something like ADAM & PAUL in future.