{"id":791674,"date":"2026-05-12T18:52:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T18:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/791674\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T18:52:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T18:52:16","slug":"cillian-murphys-gripping-historical-drama-is-the-movie-you-need-to-see-tonight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/791674\/","title":{"rendered":"Cillian Murphy’s “gripping” historical drama is the movie you need to see tonight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cillian Murphy may have recently garnered acclaim \u2013 and an Academy Award \u2013 for Oppenheimer, but look close enough at his filmography and you’ll find some gems across the years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One of those is The Wind That Shakes the Barley, a historical drama from legendary British filmmaker Ken Loach. Released in 2006, the film is set between 1919 and 1923, and covers both the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War.<\/p>\n

Murphy portrays Damien O’Donovan, who, along with his brother Teddy, fights for Irish independence from the UK. Despite their shared goal, they later find themselves on opposite sides during the country’s civil war.<\/p>\n

Upon its release, the historical drama became the highest-grossing Irish independent film<\/a> of all time until the release of The Guard five years later, but what else is there to know about Loach’s powerful piece of filmmaking?<\/p>\n

Who is in The Wind That Shakes the Barley?\"cillian<\/p>\n

Joss Barratt\/Oil Flick\/16\/Element\/Pathe\/Kobal\/Shutterstock\/\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

\u2022 Cillian Murphy as Damien
\u2022 P\u00e1draic Delaney as Teddy
\u2022 Liam Cunningham as Dan
\u2022 Orla Fitzgerald as Sin\u00e9ad
\u2022 Roger Allam as Sir John Hamilton
\u2022 Siobh\u00e1n McSweeney as Julia<\/p>\n

What did the critics say about The Wind That Shakes the Barley?
<\/p>\n

The film has a very impressive approval rating of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes<\/a>, making it one of the best-reviewed films in Murphy’s career. The score puts it ahead of Inception and 28 Days Later while tying with Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man. <\/p>\n

At the time of writing, only Kensuke’s Kingdom, Small Things Like These, The Dark Knight, Oppenheimer, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Dunkirk and A Quiet Place Part II have higher scores. <\/p>\n

Furthermore, The Wind That Shakes the Barley won the prestigious Palme d’Or (Best Film) award at the 59th Cannes Film Festival (Loach would win another for I, Daniel Blake a decade later).<\/p>\n

“Loach is full of astonishments […] in this film, he stages raid and counter-raid, big gunfight and small, with stunning dynamism,” noted The Washington Post<\/a>, while The Philadelphia Inquirer called it “gripping, powerful and heart-breaking” (via Rotten Tomatoes<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Where can I watch The Wind That Shakes the Barley?\"cillian<\/p>\n

Joss Barratt\/Oil Flick\/16\/Element\/Pathe\/Kobal\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Loach’s historical drama is currently available to stream<\/a> in the UK on BFI Player<\/a>, for which you can get a 14-day free trial. After that point, subscriptions cost \u00a36.99 per month or \u00a365 a year.<\/p>\n

BFI Player can also be purchased as an add-on channel for existing Prime Video<\/a> and Apple TV subscribers, with a seven-day free trial being available on each platform. After that, it costs \u00a36.99 per month.<\/p>\n

Other Cillian Murphy movies you can stream right now\"cillian<\/p>\n

Enda Bowe\/Lionsgate<\/p>\n

If you have Prime Video<\/a>, then you can stream Murphy’s collaborations with filmmaker Danny Boyle such as 28 Days Later and Sunshine, while war drama Anthropoid and spy thriller Anna are on there.<\/p>\n

28 Days Later, as well as sequel 28 Years Later, are on Sky Cinema in addition to Dunkirk and Inception, the latter two of which are directed by Christopher Nolan. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, also from Nolan, are on ITVX until early June.<\/p>\n

Netflix has plenty of films including The Immortal Man, Steve and Small Things Like These, while action-thriller Free Fire is on StudioCanal Presents. A Quiet Place Part II is on Paramount+, while In Time is on Disney+.<\/p>\n

The Wind That Shakes the Barley <\/strong>is streaming on BFI Player.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Visit our <\/strong>Streaming Guide<\/strong><\/a> now to see at a glance where you can view ALL your favourite shows and movies.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The new edition of <\/strong>Living Legends<\/strong>, a collector’s edition exploring the royal family, is here! <\/strong>Buy <\/strong>The Royals<\/strong> in newsagents or online<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong>
<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Lettermark\"<\/p>\n

Reporter, Digital Spy<\/strong> George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies<\/a> and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. \u00a0His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible<\/a> and John Wick<\/a> to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.
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