The Oscar nominee plays a woman who returns to her hometown of Orkney to get clean following years of excess in London

Ever since she announced herself as one to watch with her Oscar-nominated turn in Atonement at the age of just 13, Saoirse Ronan has established herself as one of the world's finest working actors. In subsequent years,

The Outrun follows Rona, a 29-year-old woman who moves back to her homeland in the Orkney Islands, in the north of Scotland, to deal with her troubled past. Over the last decade, she has been drowning in a pit of alcoholism, destroying every meaningful relationship and even endangering her own life.

An emotive turn from the Irish actor is matched by Nora Fingscheidt’s fluent direction while adapting Amy Liptrot’s memoir

Part rehab memoir, part travelogue about the wildlife and crashing waves of the Orkneys, Amy Liptrot’s 2016 book The Outrun won prizes and rave reviews, because Liptrot was gesturing to grander horizons than her own personal redemption.