A young Scottish woman’s struggles with addiction bring her to the edge of the world, which was also her childhood backyard. Coming out of an intensive 90-day recovery program, she heads back to the Orkneys to ground her new sobriety in a taste of home: bracing air and walks along the rocky coast in a headphones-protecting cocoon of techno music.

But in staying with her fanatically religious mom, there’s a constant reminder that she comes from dysfunction as much as from a place of grandeur and serenity. Her separated parents trigger childhood trauma that she turned to drink to escape.

Although the narration tries to explain the Orkneys’ appeal, the ancient pull of the place is palpable. Solitude doesn’t have to mean loneliness: The climate and terrain can be like-minded companions of a profound and turbulent spirit.

Saoirse Ronan knows how to do more than hold her own against the Orkney archipelago’s breathtaking, windswept remoteness. LA Times. Robert Abele

UK

English

One hour and 58 minutes