Cillian Murphy’s Acclaimed Irish Drama Is Preparing to Exit Netflix

Viewers in the UK who want to watch the Cillian Murphy movie ‘Small Things Like These’ on Netflix have a short window left. A published list of October removals shows the film is scheduled to leave Netflix UK on October 28. That gives subscribers roughly nine days from today.

The exit of ‘Small Things Like These’ from Netflix closes a fairly brief stay. The film arrived on the service on April 28. Netflix itself tags the title as critically acclaimed, and describes it as a story about a devoted father in 1985 who begins to unravel the secrets held between his small Irish town and its convent.

Why This Netflix UK Departure Is Happening

Streaming libraries rarely stay fixed for long. Netflix’s catalogue rotates because of licensing agreements, and many movies and shows leave after short periods. The removal in question applies to the Netflix UK schedule for October, and the sources reviewed for this piece do not address availability in other regions.

Finding out what is leaving has also become less straightforward. What’s on Netflix reported in June that Netflix had officially retired its Leaving Soon category code, though a new alternative exists. Anyone relying on that older shortcut may miss the film’s countdown entirely.

This is not the first time the film has faced a UK exit this year. Digital Spy reported in March that the drama was in the Leaving Soon section of Prime Video in the UK and Ireland. British viewers have therefore seen it move between services within a single year.

What Viewers Get From This Cillian Murphy Movie

The story is set in County Wexford, Ireland, in 1985, and follows Bill Furlong, a coal merchant who supports his wife and five daughters. Netflix’s description centres on Bill finding a shivering girl in a shed, which sets the unraveling of local secrets in motion. It is a slow, observational drama built on small moments rather than plot twists.

Eileen Walsh plays Eileen Furlong, Michelle Fairley appears as Mrs. Wilson and Emily Watson plays Sister Mary. Digital Spy awarded the film four stars, praising Murphy’s weary, sympathetic performance as Bill while acknowledging that some viewers may find the pace slow. Empire described it as a deliberate film that uses small moments to explore how good people allow bad things to happen.

Audience interest on Netflix appears to have grown over time. FlixPatrol’s breakdown of Netflix engagement reports shows 1.4 million hours viewed in the first half of 2026, compared with 0.5 million in the first half of 2025. That suggests the April arrival found a new audience before the October exit.

The Berlin Film Festival Opener Behind the Film

The film had its world premiere at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival on February 15, 2024. Deadline noted it was the first time an Irish movie had opened the festival, and that Emily Watson went on to win the Silver Bear for best supporting performance. That festival launch gave a modest drama considerable early attention.

Murphy produced the film with Alan Moloney through their newly launched Big Things Films, and the screenplay came from his longtime collaborator Enda Walsh. Financing came from Artists Equity, the studio founded by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. The connection began when Murphy met Damon while working on ‘Oppenheimer’. Director Tim Mielants had previously worked with Murphy on the third season of ‘Peaky Blinders’.

Lionsgate released the film in the UK and Ireland on November 1, 2024, followed by a US debut on November 8. Its box office total is listed at 14.4 million dollars. For a quiet period drama with a small cast, those numbers sit comfortably alongside its festival profile.

A Magdalen Laundries Drama Worth Catching Before It Goes

The film is rooted in real history. It reveals truths about Ireland’s Magdalen laundries, institutions run by Roman Catholic organisations from the 1820s until 1996 and presented as places to reform so called fallen young women. That context gives Bill’s small, personal decision a much larger weight.

The material began as literature. Claire Keegan’s novella was published by Faber and Faber on October 21, 2021. Keegan also wrote ‘Foster’, which was adapted into the Oscar nominated Irish language film ‘The Quiet Girl’. Murphy told Deadline he fell in love with the book, describing its story as very specific yet carrying a huge universality.

Murphy and his collaborators did not stop there. He reunited with Mielants and Watson in 2025 for Netflix’s ‘Steve’, a school set drama based on Max Porter’s novella. That film reached Netflix globally on October 3, 2025. For anyone who spent the past six months with Bill Furlong’s quiet choice in ‘Small Things Like These’, does the film land differently knowing it is about to leave the service, and which moment will you be rewatching before October 28?