Barry Keoghan’s fantastic Ireland-set thriller movie is on TV tonight

Holding an 89% Rotten Tomatoes score, the Irish film was released in 2025 to rave reviews.

The feature debut of writer-director Christopher Andrews, the film is set in rural Ireland. The story follows two farming families as they become engulfed in an escalating, dangerous feud.

On one side of the ongoing rivalry is Michael (Christopher Abbott, The Testament of Ann Lee), a quiet and intense Irish-speaking man with a dark history. On the other side is the younger, reckless Jack (Keoghan).

The cast of Bring Them Down also includes Irish acting legend Colm Meaney (The Snapper) as Michael's father, as well as Nora-Jane Noone (Brooklyn), Paul Ready (The Terror) and Susan Lynch (Bad Day for the Cut).

We here at JOE were big fans of the Irish thriller, thanks to its intense performances, its terrific sense of mood, and its twisty screenplay, which only grows in emotional profundity as it plays out.

"Anchored by a revelatory Christopher Abbott and a typically great Barry Keoghan, Bring Them Down is a hard-hitting Irish thriller boasting brains and brawn," we said at the time of its release.

Others seem to agree, with the movie racking up several awards and an 89% Rotten Tomatoes score.

Watch the trailer for Bring Them Down right here:

Before the film landed in cinemas, JOE interviewed its American star, Christopher Abbott, about the thriller and how he ended up playing an Irish-speaking country farmer.

"Yeah, I'm surprised too," he joked to us, before adding: "Christopher Andrews, he came to me with the project... One of the first things I said, I was like: 'Are you sure you don't want to just get someone Irish to do it?'

"Aside from the challenge of doing the language and the accent, which I would call a fun challenge to do, being able to then just step into that world, it's very unique and specific.

"I grabbed onto it just because it's not something you would get asked often to do, [to] get into this sheep farming family, small-town world. It's one of the joys of doing this job. You can kind of just experience or get at least a little taste or glimpse of what that's like."

Abbott also noted that before cameras rolled, he was very concerned about making sure both his Irish accent and the many scenes in which he converses in Irish felt authentic, something which he accomplished with aplomb.

Laughing, the actor told JOE: "Of course, it's a concern because I don't want to sound bad. The point is to try to do a good job... I would have had a hard time watching it if I sounded terrible."

Christopher Abbott in Bring Them Down

As for learning lines as Gaeilge, Abbott confirmed it was incredibly difficult, stating: "The way the Irish language is written is hard to follow. The roots of it are obviously not Latin, not Germanic or whatever. So, it's hard to just read the words.

"I had to learn everything sort of phonetically. I couldn't have a conversation in it now, this time past, but I remember some of my lines, and I remember what they mean.

"But that's all that's important really, to at least just know what I'm talking about and know what I'm saying in the context of this movie."

Bring Them Down is airing on TV tonight on BBC Two at 11pm. It's also available to rent on Apple TV, Prime Video, Rakuten TV, and the Sky Store.

Here are the other movies on TV tonight:

In Her Shoes - Virgin Media One - 9pm

This comedy-drama follows two sisters (Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette) who are total opposites.

A Fistful of Dynamite - TG4 - 9pm

Also known as Duck, You Sucker! and Once Upon a Time … the Revolution, this is Sergio Leone's cult Western set in the 1910s about a Mexican outlaw (Rod Steiger) and a former IRA member (James Coburn) who team up.

The Great Wall - E4 - 9pm

Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal fight aliens at the Great Wall of China in the 11th century in this bonkers blockbuster.

Wild Card - Film4 - 9pm

Jason Statham plays a Las Vegas bodyguard with a gambling problem in this decent action crime thriller with a packed supporting cast.

The Young Americans - Legend - 9pm

The '90s crime thriller starring Harvey Keitel and a young Viggo Mortensen that we highlighted last week.

Nope - Film4 - 9pm

In this excellent sci-fi horror, Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer play siblings whose California horse ranch becomes the target of an unidentified aerial threat.

A Man Called Otto - RTÉ One - 9.35pm

Tom Hanks is a man called Otto.

Challengers - RTÉ2 - 10pm

Zendaya leads this fun, hit movie about a love triangle within the world of tennis.

The Fighter - Legend - 11.05pm

The sports drama for which Christian Bale won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Bodies Bodies Bodies - BBC One - 11.20pm

A group of young people hold a "hurricane party" at a mansion that goes terribly wrong in this clever comedy thriller.

Monolith - Film4 - 11.35pm

In this excellent Australian thriller, a disgraced journalist turned podcaster uncovers a bizarre, possibly supernatural conspiracy.

Feast of Love - RTÉ One - 11.55pm

Morgan Freeman leads an ensemble cast in this 2007 drama that deals with love and its many permutations, set within a community of friends in Portland, Oregon.