Brooklyn (2015)

Last time Nick Hornby wrote a screenplay was for An Education, which was good, except for the fact that the ending didn't seem to know where it was going. The fact that Brooklyn is based on Colm Tóibín's novel probably helps, besides Saoirse Ronan being downright amazing in the role as Ellis. Living in a small town in Ireland with her sister and mum, her sister encourages her to leave for America, putting her up with a job and a place to stay, as there's nothing available for her in Ireland. To begin with Ellis is deeply home-sick until she meets Tony, a young Italian man who begins to make her feel like Brooklyn might be home to her.

The film isn't revolutionary perhaps, but it's wonderfully done by director John Crowley. The acting is also splendid and you understand the dilemma's and worries that go through Ellis' head as she tries to adapt to change, besides trying to understand where she truly belongs. It's nice to see such a story from a female perspective, in a way, as it's much more of belonging than it's about 'romance'. Besides bringing up how many went away from home, leaving behind everything they knew, and how devastating that must have been...