Rebellion may be glamorised in a lot of blockbuster movies, but the true cost of standing up for what you believe in is unpacked in Say Nothing.
The limited series is based on journalist Patrick Radden Keefe’s 2018 novel "Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland", and its rumination on the cycle of violence and the personal sacrifices one must make for a cause proves revolution is anything but glamorous.
Those looking for a realistic and high-stakes political thriller that also grounds itself in historical accounts will find a lot to love in Say Nothing. Set amidst the almost 30-year period known as the Troubles, the series homes in on one of the most turbulent times in Irish history. Joshua Zetumer (Patriots Day) adapts Keefe’s novel for the miniseries, which is funnelled through several key belligerent figures as they recount their stories throughout the decades-long conflict.
These collective memories are shared through Maxine Peake’s Dolours Price and Brendan Hughes (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor), Provisional Irish Republican Army members, as they participate in the Belfast Project, an oral history initiative run by Boston College that gathered true IRA accounts in exchange for secrecy until the participants’ deaths.
The Troubles was a time that dictated the lives of thousands in Northern Ireland, and Say Nothing shows the stark reality of that throughout its nine episodes. The Troubles incited a culture of rebellion. The ideals of the Protestants clashed against those of the Catholics, the Unionists and loyalists opposed the Irish nationalists, turning peaceful protests into bloody street riots, and locals turned on each other as an air of suspicion gripped Northern Ireland.
In faith, in politics, in neighbours, in circumstances - there was no shortage of reasons to rebel during the Troubles, which is what leads Dolours and her sister Marian to take on the mantle of revolution like their family members before them. The younger Dolours is played by Lola Petticrew, whose role in the Irish series Bloodlands is steeped in a similar time period, while Hazel Doupe portrays Marian.
When the pair is violently beaten at what was once a peaceful protest, the Price sisters seek an outlet for retaliation, turning to the IRA. After the sisters sign up, they’re engaged in a series of high-profile stunts that gain them notoriety and names in the media like the “Sisters of Terror”. The siblings become allies of Gerry Adams (Josh Finan), a real-world future political leader who has publicly always denied affiliation with the IRA, but is very much involved in the show’s depiction.
Accompanied by Brendan Hughes, aka The Dark, Say Nothing shuffles through a series of IRA stunts, revealing its reliance on gritty guerrilla warfare and resorting to basics like bricks, bottles, and petrol bombs to stand up to institutional might.
The activists cling to their beliefs to justify their extremism, but they must also reckon with the reality of the follow-through. Holding a gun is very different from having the intention to shoot it.
“The question isn't if they'll let you fight. The question is, are you sure you want to?” Dolours is asked during Say Nothing’s premiere. She quickly learns that radicalisation has both highs and lows, and comes with costs on all sides.
As the years progress and the troublesome times sink in, an air of paranoia seeps through the streets. The murder of Jean McConville looms over Say Nothing, as the series delves into those whom history refers to as The Disappeared, several alleged informers who were killed and their bodies secretly buried by republican rebels. Both sides suffer from suspicion, as the loyalists question whether republican insurgents have infiltrated their ranks, and the IRA becomes overzealous in its search for informants.
“How do we run an army when we can’t trust our own men?” Adams ponders as the leaks threaten to sink the ship.
The Troubles ignite a pressure cooker across all of Northern Ireland, within which even those most committed to the cause start to falter. Say Nothing tracks a decades-long journey for the Price sisters, covering their month-long hunger strike, where they demanded recognition as political prisoners and to be returned to their homeland, and the trauma that followed them as they were forced back into civility while peace-time ensued. In her later years, Dolours is forced to contend with whether the cause she paid for with her body and soul was really worth it.
Film and TV tend to sensationalise revolution. Just this year, One Battle After Another swept awards season with its tale about marginalised revolutionaries fighting a burgeoning authoritarian state in America. While filtered through an absurdist comedic lens and backed by Hollywood’s elite, One Battle After Another drove home the idea that rebellion has ripple effects and it comes with debts that may never be settled.
Say Nothing is a much starker reality rooted in true history from the perspective of those living through rebellion in the moment, but the sentiment around resistance remains the same: some battles never end, even when the fighting stops.
Say Nothing is now streaming at SBS On Demand.
Episodes air weekly at SBS starting Thursday 30 July at 9.30pm.
