What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedSmall Things Like These
Tim Mielants · Film · 2024
If you loved Small Things Like These, start with Small Things Like These (Claire Keegan, 2021) — a book from the same story. Below: 3 books, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to Small Things Like These across media.
If Small Things Like These moved you, you will appreciate these stories that expose how moral courage struggles against the crushing weight of community silence.
Start with the source
Books on the same thread
Small Mercies
Dennis Lehane · Book
Explores: racial tension, urban decay, maternal grief.
Much like the protagonist in Small Things Like These, you will find a similar examination of how maternal grief and social pressure force individuals to confront systemic injustice.
The Silence Factory
Bridget Collins · Book · 2024
Explores: Sensory Deprivation, Sound and Silence, Industrialism.
The oppressive atmosphere of Small Things Like These is mirrored here as characters navigate the suffocating influence of institutions that demand absolute conformity at the expense of individual truth.
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
James McBride · Book · 2023
Shares a thread with Small Things Like These: historical injustice.
You will recognize the same focus on small-town secrets and historical injustice found in Small Things Like These as residents navigate the burden of uncovering long-buried community truths.
Series on the same thread
IT: Welcome to Derry
Andy Muschietti · Series · 2025
Shares a thread with Small Things Like These: Small Town Secrets.
This story captures the unsettling feeling of a town hiding dark realities, echoing the way Small Things Like These portrays the complicit silence required to maintain local order.
Toxic Town
Jack Thorne · Series · 2025
Explores: Environmental Disaster, Corporate Malfeasance, Birth Defects.
Just as the coal merchant in Small Things Like These faces a daunting moral dilemma, these mothers challenge institutional power, proving that one voice can disrupt established complicity.
Say Nothing
Joshua Zetumer · Series · 2024
Explores: The Troubles, Loyalty and Betrayal, Moral Ambiguity.
If the Irish setting and moral ambiguity of Small Things Like These resonated with you, this exploration of loyalty and the cycle of violence offers a profound companion piece.
Mare of Easttown
Brad Ingelsby · Series · 2021
Shares a thread with Small Things Like These: Redemption.
The struggle to balance personal integrity with the expectations of a close-knit community in Small Things Like These is reflected in this detective's journey through trauma and redemption.
Podcasts on the same thread
The Truth
The Truth · Podcast · 2026
Explores: human condition, experimental storytelling, moral ambiguity.
These intimate, cinematic stories mirror the focus on the human condition found in Small Things Like These, providing a brief but powerful look at moral choices in difficult circumstances.
Small Town Murder
James Pietragallo, Jimmie Whisman · Podcast · 2026
Explores: provincial life, tragic irony, forensic breakdown.
While the tone differs from Small Things Like These, you will appreciate the same analytical interest in the sociological fabric of small towns and the tragedies they harbor.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is Small Things Like These based on a book?
Yes, the 2024 film Small Things Like These is an adaptation of the 2021 novel of the same name. Both works explore the same narrative regarding a coal merchant in an Irish town who uncovers disturbing secrets kept by the local convent during the mid-1980s.
Should I read the book before watching Small Things Like These?
You can watch the film or read the book in either order. Both versions of Small Things Like These cover the same story about Bill Furlong confronting the complicit silence of his community. The source material and the film provide the same core emotional and historical experience.
What is the primary setting of Small Things Like These?
Small Things Like These is set in a small Irish town in 1985. The story follows a coal merchant who discovers unsettling truths about a local convent, which forces him to confront his own past and the influence the Catholic Church held over the community at that time.
Does Small Things Like These focus on a real historical issue?
Small Things Like These depicts the complicit silence of a town regarding the actions of a local convent. The narrative centers on the discovery of disturbing secrets in 1985, highlighting the control the Catholic Church exerted over the lives of people in small Irish towns during that era.