Hated Game Of Thrones Star Returns In R-Rated Liam Neeson Thriller
Liam Neeson continues his reign as king of the B-movie with his latest thriller, In the Land of Saints and Sinners, which is just as generic as the title makes it sound, but there’s a catch. The Irish set film includes an almost entirely Irish cast, which also, would not be notable, except it includes Jack Gleeson. Gleeson spent years away from films and television, but this is his lowkey return after his most famous role as the world’s greatest villain, Joffrey Baratheon, in Game of Thrones.
Liam Neeson Always Finds Trouble
In the Land of Saints and Sinners features Neeson as an IRA bomber lying low in a quaint Irish seaside town, but old habits die hard. Neeson’s character, Finbar Murphy, winds up working for a local small-time crime boss as a killer for hire until a job goes wrong, and he has a change of heart. Standing up for an abused woman sets off a slow-moving chain reaction that ends up exploding in bloodshed, tears, and lives cut short.
Alongside Finbar is Kevin, a young man played by Jack Gleeson, who happens to be a crack shot and is very willing to kill anyone to finish his assignment. He’s not as evil as Joffrey, but he’s not a good guy either; he’s just troubled and yearning for a brighter future, which is why Finbar tries to take him under his wing and get him far away from the small world of Glencolmcille. In the Land of Saints and Sinners gives Gleeson the chance to get back into acting in a different type of role, and maybe, hopefully, get people to realize that he isn’t Joffrey.
The Return Of Jack Gleeson
Jack Gleeson’s performance as Joffrey shocked audiences, and supercuts of Peter Dinklage slapping him became some of YouTube’s most popular videos, but as brilliant as the performance was, it had a dark side. Gleeson was faced with Game of Thrones fans who were incapable of separating the art from the artist, which, combined with the mental toll of playing an unrepentant sociopath for years, led to his self-imposed exile. Coming back in the low-key In the Land of Saints and Sinners is a fantastic comeback for the young Irish star that will, hopefully, lead to even more roles in the coming years.
If you asked someone to describe the plots of Blacklight, In the Land of Saints and Sinners, or Absolution, even knowing nothing about the films, they could get close so long as they knew Liam Neeson starred in all of them. The award-winning star’s second act as an action star has led to him starring in a long line of slow-burn thrillers that replace punching and shootouts with intense conversations and otherwise mundane lines that sound like the most crucial sentence ever uttered when it comes from Neeson.
In fact, In the Land of Saints and Sinners was released in 2023 without much fanfare despite featuring Neeson’s best performance in years. Today, the film has finally been discovered by audiences thanks to Amazon Prime, but from day one, it was always destined to become cheap and easily digestible streaming content.
In the Land of Saints and Sinners is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
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