In the Land of Saints and Sinners Trailer Wars with the Past

Movies

Liam Neeson is going back into action, but this time, it looks like he’ll be in a more thoughtful adventure than is his usual of late. Today saw the release of the trailer for In the Land of Saints and Sinners, an upcoming Irish action thriller. Neeson stars as Finbar Murphy (love that name), an assassin looking to retire on the Irish coast after a life of killing. But when a group of terrorists comes looking for him, Finbar must go to war to preserve the life he’s created and atone for the one he left behind. Kerry Condon, Ciarán Hinds, Colm Meaney, and Jack Gleeson join Neeson in the cast. Directed by Robert Lorenz, In the Land of Saints and Sinners will premiere at the Venice International Film Festival; Netflix has the distribution rights in the UK and Ireland, but there’s no word on any US release. You can see the In the Land of Saints and Sinners trailer below (via JoBlo):

That looks great! Neeson’s action films have been hit and miss – and lately, more miss than hit – but every so often, he stars in a good one. Robert Lorenz directed another Neeson actioner, The Marksman, which was… okay. But I have higher hopes for this one after seeing the trailer. The cast of In the Land of Saints and Sinners is excellent, and I’d see this just to watch them interact with each other. Jack Gleeson, who you may not recognize as a grown-up, was Joffrey in Game of Thrones; I imagine he’s looking to get out from under the enormous shadow that role has cast on him, and he seems to be a friend of Neeson’s in this movie. And the film itself looks more contemplative than some of Neeson’s other action efforts based on the trailer; I like the idea of his past coming to find him, forcing him to atone instead of simply putting it behind him. I hope they figure out US distribution soon (and it’d be nice if it gets a theatrical release rather than going straight to Netflix) because In the Land of Saints and Sinners quickly made my must-see list.