‘In The Land Of Saints And Sinners’, which is now available exclusively on Amazon Prime Video as ‘Saints And Sinners – Saints and Sinners’, delivers more than just Liam Neeson as a tough assassin. The thriller drama from Clint Eastwood’s old companion Robert Lorenz (“Back In The Game”), which is clearly based on westerns, is set in Ireland in the 1970s.
That’s what ‘Saints And Sinners’ is about
The actually sleepy County Donegal is home to hitman Finbar (Liam Neeson), who carries out orders for his agent Robert (Colm Meaney) from here. The villagers around Finbar’s best friend, police officer Vincent (Ciarán Hinds), obviously have no idea about this.
When the killer notices that a little girl he cares about is being abused by her “Uncle” Curtis (Desmond Eastwood), Finbar decides to commit murder on his own. But he could not have suspected that the dead man was the brother and partner of the IRA terrorist Doireann (Kerry Condon, recently nominated for an Oscar for “The Banshees of Inisherin”), who had gone into hiding here with her gang after a devastating bomb attack . And now she wants revenge. A confrontation arises that soon affects the entire village…
A “Game Of Thrones” star is barely recognizable
Jack Gleeson also plays an important role in ‘Saints And Sinners’ – and that should ring a bell for ‘Game Of Thrones’ fans. In the fantasy hit he played the sadistic Joffrey Baratheon. But very few people are likely to recognize it at first glance, as our photo comparison shows.
In ‘Saints Of Sinners’ he now impresses as the slightly psychopathic murderer Kevin, who gradually has to take over the case of Finbar, who is thinking about retirement. In our FILMSTARTS review we write of him that “as the film progresses, behind his psychopathic facade a certain tragic tone is revealed, making him perhaps the most sympathetic character in the film.”
Because we were able to see ‘Saints And Sinners’ at its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. FILMSTARTS editor-in-chief Christoph Petersen praises in the conclusion of his review that “the film impresses with its strong cast and refreshing straightforwardness”. This requires 3.5 stars – this is the highest rating for an action thriller from Liam Neeson since the 3.5 stars for ‘Run All Night’ in 2015. For fans of the Irishman, ‘Saints And Sinners’ is a must: the action with Liam was so good. Neeson has long since disappeared – from now on only on Amazon Prime Video as a streaming subscription.