Sparse on dialogue and even more sparse on veritable plot points, ‘An Cailín Ciúin’ (in its original Irish) is a bonafide multiple-tissue weepie about the heartbreaking things some children have to endure. A beautiful and subtly powerful film by writer-director Colm Bairéad, it stars young Catherine Clinch (in her debut) as the sweetest young lass you’ll ever meet. Her dysfunctional family ships her off to distant cousins, who take her in without so much as a blink. The film is eloquent in its silence, and that’s actually part of the beauty of it, letting the emotionally-driven narrative sneak up on you and hit you square in the gut.
4.5/5 stars