Those who know me understand I’m drawn to dark and somber movies, and the Netflix movie _Black 47_ definitely fits that bill. The story unfolds in 1847, when Ireland is suffering through the Great Famine, which has devastated the country for two years. Feeney, an Irish Ranger who’s been fighting for the British Army overseas, comes back home to find his family, but he finds something much worse: a desolate land where death holds sway. I'm always up for a good revenge story, and this film follows through on its promise of a harsh and brutal narrative. It’s a genuinely strong movie that grabbed my attention from the beginning. James Frecheville, as Feeney, is unsettling and frightening as he methodically hunts down those who have harmed his family, and it's hard not to root for him when those awful English soldiers are pursuing him. Hugo Weaving does well portraying Hannah, a former soldier assigned to help track down Feeney, and the suspenseful pursuit they engage in really kept me invested. The internal struggle that Hannah experiences works nicely within the plot, and his motivation of doing things for his own benefit adds an interesting element of uncertainty about what he will do next. The filmmakers effectively depict how incredibly difficult and terrible life was during the Irish famine, and just how little value human life held. There’s a scene in a courtroom where someone is sentenced to hard labor in Tasmania—a place far across the world—for stealing a sheep to feed his family. That mention of Tasmania, and the movie overall, brought to mind the truly excellent film _The Nightingale_, which we saw last year. If you liked _The Nightingale_, you’ll likely enjoy this one too. If you want a grim and hopeless film with a blurred line between good and bad characters, _Black 47_ is worth adding to your list.

Source on TMDB