Dir John Crowley
“Feelgood” is a term usually used to describe shoddy rom coms, but it’s the perfect adjective for this brilliant film, based on Colm Tóibín’s book about a young Irish woman in 1950s America. Saoirse Ronan’s Oscar-worthy performance takes protagonist Eilis from shy, homesick girl to confident adult, making tough decisions about the ties that bind. Well-pitched weepy moments sit alongside wry humour, including some excellent jokes about differing cultural approaches to swimsuits and spaghetti, and characters are beautifully drawn, including Jim Broadbent’s soft-centred priest, Julie Walters’ sweetly despotic landlady, and Eilis’s drily funny fellow boarders, a generation of women taking on New York.