As any fan of period drama Little Women, coming-of-age film Lady Bird or queer romance Ammonite will tell you, Saoirse Ronan is something special. Nominated for an Oscar at the tender age of 13 for her role as Briony in Atonement, the actor has racked up a collection of truly outstanding performances during her career, each one as unique as the next.

Now, she is turning her talent for redefining female roles to a big screen literary adaptation. The four-time Oscar nominee is starring in The Outrun, an adaptation of the bestselling memoir of the same name from Scottish writer Amy Liptrot exploring her post-rehab recovery in the Orkney Islands.

Here’s everything we know about the upcoming adaptation, including cast, plot and release date.

What is the plot of The Outrun?

Based on Amy Liptrot’s prize-winning 2015 novel about alcoholism and nature, The Outrun stars Ronan as Rona, a Scot who’s just left rehab to return to the sheep farm where she grew up on the Orkney Islands for the first time in a decade. Once there, she “reconnects with the landscape” and begins to piece together her childhood memories, which “merge with the more recent challenging events that have set her on the path to recovery.”

And part of the official book blurb reads as follows:

“Unable to control her drinking, alcohol gradually took over. Now thirty, she finds herself washed up back home on Orkney, standing unstable at the cliff edge, trying to come to terms with what happened to her in London. Spending early mornings swimming in the bracingly cold sea, the days tracking Orkney’s wildlife – puffins nesting on sea stacks, arctic terns swooping close enough to feel their wings – and nights searching the sky for the Merry Dancers, Amy slowly makes the journey towards recovery from addiction.”

Who is in the cast of The Outrun?

Alongside Ronan, Paapa Essideu (I May Destroy You, The Lazarus Project), Stephen Dillane (Alex Rider), Saskia Reeves (Slow Horses), Lauren Lyle (Karen Pirie), Nabil Elouahabi (Trigger Point) and Izuka Hoyle (Boiling Point), Jack Rooke (Big Boys) will also feature in the cast. The film is directed by Nora Fingscheidt.

“It was Amy’s voice that first drew me to The Outrun,” Ronan previously said in a statement. “Her unusual way of seeing things in a way that perhaps you only can when you’ve been to the darkest place you can go within yourself. I have been waiting to play a part like this – the messiness, hopefulness, dreaminess, authenticity and humour we want to achieve – I’ve been scared of it, but with Nora I feel ready.”

When will The Outrun be released?

The film will land in UK cinemas on 27 September. In the meantime, you can watch the new trailer for The Outrun below.

Image: Studio Canal