Saoirse Ronan had been getting up at dawn to observe local farmers in Orkney in action, soaking in as much as she could. But soon it was her turn. Not only would she have a life in her hands: She had to look like she’d been doing it her whole life.

The crashing of waves, the somber recrimination of chilly charcoal clouds: for the young woman at the center of this story, Rona—played, in a marvelously nuanced performance by Saoirse Ronan —these are both markers of time and reminders that sometimes it’s necessary to temporarily drop out of time,

Part rehab memoir, part travelogue about the wildlife and crashing waves of the Orkneys, Amy Liptrot’s 2016 book The Outrun won prizes and rave reviews, because Liptrot was gesturing to grander horizons than her own personal redemption.

In the opening of The Outrun, a young woman named Rona (played by four-time Academy Award nominee Saoirse Ronan) shares the legend of the selkie. Through a dreamy voiceover, she explains how these mythological shapeshifters of the sea could come ashore at night,

An alcoholic (Saoirse Ronan) returns home to Scotland's Orkney Islands and achieves sobriety in nature's solitude.

Is that really Saoirse Ronan playing a blackout drunk with a violent temper, scraping rock bottom as she staggers into a London pub at closing time, eager to slurp down leftover drinks and kicking and screaming when a bartender drops her in a gutter?

The Outrun is meditative & often poetic, with a powerful, emotional performance by Saoirse Ronan. It's not without pitfalls, but it's a strong debut.