The Outrun: Saoirse Ronan's finest performance?

Irish actor tipped to finally take home an Oscar for her powerful portrayal

Saoirse Ronan in The Outrun
Saoirse Ronan is 'compelling' to watch in her role as a young woman trying to rebuild her life
(Image credit: Alamy / BFA)

Addiction can feel "tired" on screen, said Francesca Steele on the i news site. But "The Outrun", based on Amy Liptrot's bestselling memoir about her alcoholism and recovery in the Orkney islands, is a "vivid, pulsating film". Director Nora Fingscheidt "favours texture and olfactory experimentation over plot" to give viewers a sense of what addiction really feels like.

The addict is Rona (Saoirse Ronan), whose life in London as a microbiologist and relationship with a kind boyfriend (Paapa Essiedu) is destroyed through the lens of alcohol. We are shown bar fights and their resulting wounds as well as "near sexual assault" as her grip on reality is slowly washed down the drain.

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