In the Land of Saints and Sinners (2023)

Plot of In the Land of Saints and Sinners: Finbar Murphy lives a quiet life in the coastal Donegal village of Glencolmcille. He pretends to be a dealer in rare books, but actually is a hired assassin working for crime boss Robert McQue. McQue also has a trainee assassin Kevin who seems to be getting into Finbar’s hair. After detonating a bomb in Belfast, killing six people, a Provisional IRA cell of four, led by Doireann, hole up in the village. One of them Curtis, Dioreann’s brother, stays with his sister-in-law, the landlady of the pub and her daughter. Although Finbar has decided to retire from his secret job, he discovers that Curtis has been abusing the daughter and decides that he must be killed, against McQue’s advice. Finbar, aided by Kevin, kills Curtis and bury the body, but Doireann is searching for him and insists that Finbar deliver the killer to her. A showdown is inevitable.

Content: No sex or nudity. Quite a bit of smoking and drinking since there are many scenes in a pub. The bombers blow up a car outside a bar in Belfast, accidentally killing three children. They escape in a Rover three litre which knocks down a road sign welcoming people to the village, leaving a smear of maroon paint on it and allowing the local Garda, Vinnie, to identify the car later. Three of the gang lie low in an outbuilding while one of them builds another bomb. Doireann, the leader, is a very threatening and frightening woman who will have no problem  killing anyone in her way. Finbar is seen carrying out one assassination for McQue for which he uses a double barrelled shotgun and from the place where he has his victim dig his own grave it is evident that there are every other bodies buried at the place.

A View: This film is set in 1974. There are loads of period cars in it. Various types of Morris Minor, some Triumph saloons, a Rover 2000 and the Three Litre and several Minis. I’m amazed that so many of these old wrecks still exist. But back to the film. While it is difficult to get to grips with why McQue has Finbar kill people, the whole tension of the bombings and the ruthlessness of the Provisional IRA is pretty well presented. And Liam Neeson does well. Finbar is laid back, exactly the opposite of the Provisional IRA. It was low budget and has not really made any money, but worth a view if you have nothing more important to do.

Fun Fact: Robert Lorenz, although American, employed Irish film people in all roles and in all technical support.