Cillian Murphy is an admirer of the author of the film's source novel, Claire Keegan. He recalls reading her novel 'Foster' on a train and having to pull his hood up over his face as it moved him to tears.
Cillian Murphy recalled in an interview that the notion of casting Emily Watson as Sister Mary had come to him in a dream, and he described her as one of his favourite performers.
Cillian Murphy floated the idea to Matt Damon while they were working on Oppenheimer (2023). The film was eventually produced by Damon and Ben Affleck under their Artists Equity banner.
Eileen Walsh, who plays the wife of Cillian Murphy's character, also had a leading role in The Magdalene Sisters (2002). Both films confront the abuses endured by young women in the Magdalene "laundries".
The film is devoted to the women who were victimised by the Magdalene Laundries, which operated from 1922 until 1998.
It served as the opening film at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival.
Much of the exterior filming was carried out in the town of New Ross, County Wexford.
Among the film's cast are an Academy Award winner — Cillian Murphy — and an Academy Award nominee — Emily Watson.
Cillian Murphy's wife, the visual artist Yvonne McGuinness, proposed adapting Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These for the screen. Murphy said it had been his wife's idea to turn the book into a film and that she ought to be given all the credit.
Cillian Murphy said that 'Come On Eileen' was used on the soundtrack to anchor the film in the 1980s, because the flashbacks to Bill's childhood could otherwise merge with scenes from his adult years.
Filmed wholly on location in authentic settings rather than on studio sets.
Small Things Like These is a 2024 historical drama film directed by Tim Mielants and adapted for the screen by Enda Walsh from Claire Keegan's 2021 novel. The film stars Cillian Murphy (who also serves as a producer), Eileen Walsh, Michelle Fairley, Emily Watson, Clare Dunne and Helen Behan. An Irish–Belgian co-production, it centres on the notorious Magdalene laundries in Ireland.
