THE OUTRUN

North of the Scottish coast, on the border between the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, lie the Orkney Islands. While the archipelago consists of 67 islands, only 20 are inhabited by humans. We return to these rugged shores alongside Rona (Saoirse Ronan, who also co-produced the film). Having spent the last decade in London, where her daily life balanced on the edge of carelessness and destruction, she now faces a different challenge. Here, amidst the harsh beauty of the landscape – the force of the wind, the unforgiving sea, the dampness, and the constant cold – Rona’s biggest battles are with loneliness and the struggle to maintain sobriety. 

After completing rehab, Rona's return to the wild islands is a confrontation with her past and childhood, while also dealing with complicated relationships with her mother and father. Above all, the Orkney Islands become a place where she will seek peace of mind, staying in a small house in the middle of nowhere, where she must face the company of only herself. Director Nora Fingscheidt (SYSTEM CRASHER – 2019) takes us to the rugged Scottish moorlands, where she neatly invokes symbolism and Norse mythology to create a picture of a young woman struggling to reclaim her identity.

In this film, where the rawness of nature intersects with a deeply personal healing process, you'll witness one of the most beautiful scenes in cinema history – a human attempting to command the ocean. The film adaptation of Amy Liptrot's acclaimed novel will probably provide Saoirse Ronan with her fifth career Oscar nomination. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. It was also presented in the Berlinale selection, the Edinburgh International Film Festival and in the New Horizons program. 

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Dorota Reksińska