CALM WITH HORSES is a stunning movie that I reckon flew under a lot of folks’ radars in those crazy lost pandemic days of summer 2020. I’ll be honest, I only found out about it because of the soundtrack. I’m a huge fan of BLANCK MASS (aka BENJAMIN JOHN POWER, aka one half of FUCK BUTTONS), and the soundtrack was on repeat in my house (and my head) for months. The music won awards – the film should have also.
Douglas ‘Arm’ Armstrong has become the feared enforcer for the drug-dealing Devers family, whilst also trying to be a good father. Torn between these two families, Arm’s loyalties are tested when he is asked to kill for the first time.
Set in rural Ireland, CALM WITH HORSES is a taut, tight-knit thriller that asks the kind of questions movies of this genre frequently don’t. The debut feature from director NICK ROWLAND, it benefits from an excellent screenplay (by JOE MURTAGH and COLIN BARRETT) and a pair of superb performances from COSMO JARVIS (most recently seen in WARFARE) and BARRY KEOGHAN.
Douglas (known as Arm), an ex-boxer who retired young after killing an opponent in the ring, is the hired muscle for local gangster family, the Devers. They’re a band of foul fuckers who rule the area, and when people cross them, he’s the one sent to dish out the family’s idea of justice. It’s as brutal, violent, and unforgiving as you’d expect. Thing is, Arm’s not like that. He’s torn, because he’s also father to a young lad with special needs. The boy and his mother need Arm’s support, but the Devers demand loyalty to them first and foremost. He’s inevitably going to let someone down, but to date it’s obviously been easier – and far less risky – to keep the gangsters onside. Everything changes, though, the first time Arm is ordered to kill.
I can’t praise this film enough. It’s beautifully put together and as I’ve already said, it considers perspectives that are often ignored. There’s a bleakness to the setting. It feels almost claustrophobically small, as no one in the immediate are it seems is able to escape the Devers’ clutches. And yet, paradoxically, the surroundings in which events take place are vast and expansive. They talk about going to Cork as if it’s on the other side of the world. This contrast emphasises the feeling that the characters are trapped in their lives, all of them stuck in a bleak and predictable downward spiral. When anyone ever shows any sign of wanting to leave, everyone else closes ranks around them yelling reasons why they can’t.
It’s made clear from the opening scenes that for Arm, the violence is just what he does, simply a job, a means to an end. He’s become anaesthetised to it, but that changes when he’s instructed to carry out an execution. There’s an assumption that he’ll just keep doing what he’s told without question, but faced with this escalation and also the prospect of his son and ex- leaving town, he’s forced to reconsider his priorities. Hitmen are frequently portrayed as unthinking blocks of meat, with overdeveloped muscles and underdeveloped emotions, dishing out whatever beatings their masters order. The impact of being the one handing out the beatings is barely considered. Arm looks like a thug, so he’s treated as one, but his reputation and appearance belie his true character.
The emotional conflicts in CALM WITH HORSES are harder to watch than the physical fights. Great film, great cast, great soundtrack, and if you’re in the UK, you can catch it streaming on CHANNEL 4 for the next couple of weeks. By the way, if you’re having trouble tracking it down, the film was also released under the generic and far less appealing title of THE SHADOW OF VIOLENCE.
