Could this be Saoirse Ronan's year? With a career already full of fine performances and four Oscar nominations before hitting 30 — the first was at just 13 for her breakout in Atonement — it feels like she already has one of those gold statuettes. It could, at last, become a reality. She's officially being put forward for Best Supporting Actress in Steve McQueen's Blitz, the opener at next month's London Film Festival, but now comes The Outrun. Word spread like wildfire at this summer's festivals that her performance was one of the best — if not the best — of the year so far and, with her name already in the hat for Best Actress, she increasingly looks like the one to beat.
It's a role and a film that demands all the talents of the standard bearer for the current crop of younger actors. Adapted from journalist Amy Liptrot’s memoir of the same name, it follows Rona (Ronan) as she stumbles on the solitary road from alcoholism to sobriety. Originally from Orkney, she's lived in London for some years, during which alcohol has come to rule her life. Therapy groups and spells in rehab haven't helped and, with her relationship with her boyfriend Daynin (Paapa Essiedu) in tatters, she decides to return home. Being with her parents brings its own pressures, so she retreats to a solitary cottage on a remote island and, surrounded by its savage beauty, starts to find a glimmer of hope for what will never be an easy future.
