The Quiet Girl

Rural Ireland, 1981. Nine-year-old Cait is neglected by her pregnant mother, boorish father and louder siblings. At school, she feels ignored. To alleviate her parent’s financial woes this quiet girl is sent away from her dysfunctional family to live with relatives for the summer. Slowly, in the care of this couple, Cáit blossoms and discovers a new way of living, but in this house where affection grows and there are meant to be no secrets, she discovers one.

Colm Bairéad’s beautifully understated feature debut finds a young girl coming to terms with loss and the importance of family in rural Ireland. Simultaneously raw and profoundly empathetic, it is a story about childhood and the transformative power of love and human kindness. Amongst its numerous achievements The Quiet Girl won 7 awards at the Irish Film and Television Awards and then became the first Irish film to earn an Oscar nomination at the 2023 Academy Awards.