Barry Keoghan's 'Bring Them Down' Looks Bloody Funny

There's a certain type of British A-list actor who finds themselves going through an awards bait phase. Benedict Cumberbatch, for example, made a string of biopic films in the mid-2010s, all of which were very obviously geared toward garnering Academy Award nominations. Barry Keoghan has seemingly entered that phase since rising to a household name in the 2020s. One sign that an actor has hit that phase is when they start releasing multiple awards bait films in one year. It's usually an accident when it occurs; one film gets fast-tracked while another languishes in development hell, and they wind up landing in theaters within weeks of each other. That's precisely what happened with Bird and Bring Him Down, the latter of which arrives in theaters in mid-September 2024.

Bring Him Down wasn't supposed to star Keoghan initially. When it was first announced in 2021 as heading into pre-production, the leads were announced as Paul Mescal (Normal People) and Tom Burke (War & Peace). However, lockdown delays and funding issues delayed the project from filming until early 2023, and by then, both leads had chosen to honor other commitments: Mescal was busy starring as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire in the West End, and Burke was filming Season 2 of The Lazarus Project. Keoghan was brought on board at the last minute in February 2023 to take Mescal's role, with American actor Christopher Abbott (Sanctuary) replacing Burke.

Keoghan has done some press for Bring Them Down, but not nearly as much as for Bird (which lands in theaters in November 2024), which suggests he thinks this Irish film about a dispute between farmers that goes sideways probably isn't the best chance at awards love. But the trailer looks hilarious, even if it feels a little bit like a film we've seen him in before.