Saoirse Ronan produces and stars in this moving adaptation about a recovering addict who returns to her childhood home on Scotland’s Orkney Islands.

To escape temptation after a stint in rehab, Rona (Ronan) leaves her life in London to reconnect with her remote hometown. She drifts between her religious mother and a father with bipolar disorder, searching for solace and a sense of self in the vicissitudes of circumstance. As flashbacks of her alcohol-fuelled downfall, her doomed relationship with a recent lover (Paapa Essiedu, I May Destroy You) and her time in the ward all puncture her present, she charts the winding path to sobriety using nature as a guide.

The Orkney Islands’ ruggedly beautiful landscape, along with the surrounding wildlife, is a focal point of this touching, nonlinear journey of coming back from the brink, adapted from a memoir by journalist (and The Outrun co-writer) Amy Liptrot. German writer/director Nora Fingscheidt (System Crasher, MIFF 2019; Boulevard’s End, MIFF 2014) has admitted that she’s drawn to characters “fighting with their inner demons” and – as embodied by Ronan, whose transcendent star turn has been widely acclaimed – Rona is one such figure whose poise and resolve keep us firmly on her journey.

“The Oscar nominee gives one of her greatest performances … An incredibly effective portrait of a reeling mind, the visual language of intrusive thoughts and rabbit holes.” – The Guardian