Four Letters of Love

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2:32

Four Letters of Love

2025

1h 49m

Romance

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

45%

Tomatometer

33 Reviews

73%

Popcornmeter

50+ Ratings

Nicholas (Fionn O'Shea) and Isabel (Ann Skelly) are made for each other, but fate does not always choose the easiest path to true love. As destiny pulls them together, so do family, passion, and faith drive them apart. Nicholas' father, William (Pierce Brosnan), comes home one day to shatter his family's quiet, modest life. He tells them that in a moment of divine intervention, God has instructed him to dedicate his life to painting. He quits his job and sets off for the coast, leaving his shell-shocked wife and son to fend for themselves. Meanwhile Isabel and her family live a charmed existence on a nearby small neighboring island, their house full of music and poetry. When tragedy strikes and her brother suffers a terrible accident, the music stops, and Isabel's parents (Helena Bonham Carter, Gabriel Byrne) decide in their grief to send Isabel to a convent school on the mainland. The young lovers embark on their own individual journeys of heartache and misplaced love, before fate contrives to pull the threads of their lives together. When they meet, it will be like a miracle.

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Critics Consensus

Four Letters of Love turns Niall Williams's novel into a visually quaint but fundamentally contrived melodrama, trading emotional depth for glossy sentimentality.

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Dario Llinares

Sight & Sound

Nov 4

Four Letters of Love is heartfelt and sincere, and Polly Steele, whose Let Me Go (2017) was another tale of familial loss and trauma, directs with broad-brush efficiency.

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Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

Oct 7

Fans of wide shots of vintage buses trundling through the most scenically blessed corners of the island may find much to admire, but this is a saccharine and insincere slog.

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Rex Reed

Observer

07/28/2025

2/4

Two hours of titanic tedium in which God's voice appears, but direction does not.

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Robin Holabird

Robin Holabird

Feb 27

Getting to this preordained future risks treacly territory, with swelling music and narration that occasionally feels portentous and literary

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Roger Salvans

Fotogramas

Sep 3

2/5

The script, written by [Niall] Williams himself, respects the magical realism of the original source, but is hampered by a syncopated structure, a contrived lyricism, and an uneven pace...[Full review in Spanish]

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Javier Ocaña

El Pais (Spain)

09/03/2025

The excellent cast...offers a certain defense so that we believe in the film and are swept away by its apparent charisma. But its lyrical breath doesn't even reach a whisper and ends up creating a poetic halitosis. [Full review in Spanish]

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Claire C

@Claire75 Jun 6

A genuinely lovely film , with beautiful scenery and heartfelt sentiments. Just don't think too deeply about it and enjoy its simplicity and great cast .

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Kelly H

@RT33143658 Mar 17

I think this was a beautiful movie. The scenery is gorgeous and the story has depth. It starts slow but that's what makes the rest of it fit. For a long time, I have felt that too much stock is put into this "Fresh Meter" here when I'm not too sure a lot of the "critics" are just mean spirited or jaded. Or maybe they want a story spoon fed to them instead of actually having to think on it.

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Arthur R

@RT88125953 Mar 14

Painfully tedious and self-indulgent. Four Letter of Love isn't wrought with obvious flaws, but it certainly doesn't have anything that stands out as brilliant either... the performances are perfectly adequate, the story is fine... all just a bit meh... much like the feeling after slogging your way through four long letters

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S W

@Funrun8 Feb 23

The overall story was not the best, but the incredible scenery makes the movie worth watching. The actors are good even though I thought the characters were a little confusing at times. It definitely made me want to visit Ireland and see that beautiful country.

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Robyn S.

@robynsandys Feb 15

It was a very touching lovely movie, with deep messages about life and love. If eyes could talk, so much was said without words. The acting was wonderful. Always been a huge fan of Gabriel Byrne. Of course the scenery and cinema photography was beautiful. It's slow to start and a bit confusing but it comes together with a sweet ending.

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Thomas M

@Firebee Feb 13

I was drawn to this movie by the amazing cast, and they didn't disappoint. The movie is interesting as it is not so much about following a plot as it is immersion in a poem. Despite the tragedies that occur in the movie, the people who experience those tragedies seem to grow only more loving and strong as the result of them, moving towards Even at the end, just when you are convinced that the main characters will never get their chance, they overcome all obstacles to find each other. It is nice to experience a quiet film, full of love and promise.

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Polly Steele

Director

Pierce Brosnan

William Coughlan

Helena Bonham Carter

Margaret Gore

Gabriel Byrne

Muiris Gore

Ann Skelly

Isabel Gore

Fionn O'Shea

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Four Letters of Love: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Nicholas (Fionn O'Shea) and Isabel (Ann Skelly) are made for each other, but fate does not always choose the easiest path to true love. As destiny pulls them together, so do family, passion, and faith drive them apart. Nicholas' father, William (Pierce Brosnan), comes home one day to shatter his family's quiet, modest life. He tells them that in a moment of divine intervention, God has instructed him to dedicate his life to painting. He quits his job and sets off for the coast, leaving his shell-shocked wife and son to fend for themselves. Meanwhile Isabel and her family live a charmed existence on a nearby small neighboring island, their house full of music and poetry. When tragedy strikes and her brother suffers a terrible accident, the music stops, and Isabel's parents (Helena Bonham Carter, Gabriel Byrne) decide in their grief to send Isabel to a convent school on the mainland. The young lovers embark on their own individual journeys of heartache and misplaced love, before fate contrives to pull the threads of their lives together. When they meet, it will be like a miracle.

Director: Polly Steele
Producer: Debbie Gray, Douglas Cummins
Screenwriter: Niall Williams
Distributor: Quiver Distribution
Production Co: Cornerstone Films, AX1 Films, Port Pictures, London Town Films, Genesius Pictures
Genre: Romance, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 25, 2025, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 25, 2025
Runtime: 1h 49m

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