The Outrun ★★★½

SAIORSE Ronan adds to her impressive gallery of strong, intelligent and nuanced characters with the 2024 drama The Outrun.

The Irish actress, who was actually born in New York and lived there until she was three, plays Rona who has recently returned to her family home on the remote Orkney Islands off the northern coast of Scotland.

It’s obvious from the outset that Rona, who has been living and working in London, isn’t altogether happy about being back on the farm and reuniting with her religious mother, problematic father and old friends who have never left the small community.

Through a series of flashbacks, we learn that escape from alcoholism is behind Rona’s return, but her efforts to get her life back on track are impacted by the fear that she will inevitably become like her father who also continues to struggle with his own inner demons.

Ronan has a great ability to pick the right roles for her and once again is very good and has strong support from Saskia Reed and Stephen Dillane as her parents and Freya Evans as the younger version of herself.

Scotland’s remote Orkney Islands are a welcome alternative location to the usual tales of addiction on the streets of a large city or a family home in one of its affluent suburbs.

German director Nora Fingscheidt’s previous film was the little-seen drama The Unforgivable with Sandra Bullock which is also worth a look.

She and Ronan make a formidable film-making team.

Watched at the cinema.