Big Boys Don't Cry

This is an extremely difficult but I think necessary watch. It depicts the horror of abject physical, mental, and emotional violence, and abuse, torture and evil neglect on innocent children in a care home. It is extremely hard-hitting and pulls no punches in the recounting of Paul Connolly's story.

Michael Socha gave an exemplary performance in his portrayal of the tragic childhood that Paul endured and his nightmares in adulthood as a survivor dealing with lifelong trauma that can only ever be managed but never cured.

The director was superb in showing the viewer the resilience that Paul was able to find amidst his pain, tremendously helped by the love of his wife to be, who took the time to listen and understand and for which kindness, empathy and love can move mountains.

I wept when she hugged him as this may well have been the first time he had ever been given tenderness of any kind. From that point onwards he was able to be safely vulnerable and tell his story.

Thank You Paul for doing so and shedding light to that part of mankind that must NEVER remain hidden...

I'm sorry, I hardly ever write a negative review because as an aspiring filmmaker I know how much time, effort and money people put into independent productions, but it has to be said this a great opportunity missed.

I feel sorry for the two leads as I've seen them before and know how natural and talented they are at acting, but it goes to prove you can't outact a badly written script.

The dialogue is cheap and corny and as a person who came from this background I can tell you this is not authentic in the slightest. I don't know for sure but I can only assume the director and writer did not come from this background and tried to make a project about a subject that they knew nothing about.

It's full of cliches and grinding repetitive cutaways in a desperate attempt to create artistic symbolism. You will know what I mean when you watch it.

The movie has huge pacing issues too and jumps back and forth between past and present for reasons best know to no-one except the writer. An experienced script supervisor would have been money well spent on this production and more money spent in the sound design as overall it the lack of it makes everything seem bland and boring.

Overall it comes down to bad direction from a badly written script. Hopefully they can learn from their mistakes for their next production. But then again they got it on Netflix, so what do I know 😊

This is not the kind of movie you'd watch for family entertainment but it is the kind of movie that everyone needs to see. It's the harrowing story of Paul Connelly and the abuse he and others suffered at the hands of evil men in the 1970's.

The lead actor, Michael Socha, gives the performance of his career so far and the young lads that play Paul and Liam as kids are also impressive. In fact all the cast come out of this with credit.

The movie also shows us parts of Pauls life that he's probably not proud of but the overriding factor of the film is to show how such atrocities can mess with a victims mind.

Well done to all concerened with this, especially Paul who must have had a few dark nights recounting his experiences whilst working on this.

This film literally broke my heart. Its portrayed in an incredible way that opens you up to a deeper understanding with regards to the mental scars left by atrocious acts such as these against children.

I cannot imagine what it was like for these children, children that had no one else in the entire world to care for them. Abused physically, mentally & sexually. The things that these disgusting carers (a far cry from) made them believe, things they took into their later lives.

The sentence for such things should be undoubtedly increased. Crimes against children should be met with the death penalty and nothing less.

I commend you Paul, for being able to shine a light on this.

Sending love to you and your family.

This film killed me.

The topics discussed in this film are not for the light hearted. However, saying that it is a topic that needed to be discussed. Events like this happen and we need to be aware of that. The acting In this film was extremely powerful and the kid actors did a fantastic job. I felt extremely uncomfortable at times which was exactly how I think I was supposed to feel.

If you watch this film beware that this is based on a true story and this is something that can really have an impact on you. This is a film that will stay with me for a while, and one that should. A sad story that people should know about.