She loved the story and couldn't wait for the movie to come out. Set in 1930's Ireland, the movie is filled with Catholic imagery - crucifixes and pictures of Jesus are in almost every scene. The desperately poor have no alternative but to stand in line at the church charity and submit to the humiliating insults of the priests before being given anything. A teenage Frankie prays again, futilely, when his girlfriend goes to the hosptial sick of the deadly consumption. The point is clear - if there is a God, He certainly isn't listening to these poor, wretched folks.
Every scene is dark and depressing.
Almost every outdoors shot is in the rain - you see no sunshine in the entire movie. Everyone is miserable, even the people that have jobs and some security. The poverty depicted is stomach-churning and disgusting. The oppression of the church is everywhere. In 1930's Ireland, the church was the government, and the government was the church.