The movie tells the story of Eilis Lacey, a young woman from a working family circa 1950. She’s bright, open and industrious, and there’s not much meaningful opportunity for her in her small Irish town. An Irish priest visiting from the United States sponsors Eilis for a job in the book’s title borough, and it is told beautifully. The beginning meanders through her uncomfortable Atlantic crossing, her loneliness and alienation in her new world, how she finds her own way and finds romance, and what happens after she’s called back to her old home—away from the place where she’s been working so hard to make good. The story is simple, and told in a quiet register. It very eloquently describes why immigrants leave their home countries, how they build a multi-cultural life in America, and how the ties of home hug at you, almost seducing you back to a life that is less fulfilling and yet more comfortable and known. Those who venture forth in the world are brave and strong and resourceful, and deserve our admiration--that is the message that underlies this gorgeously filmed movie.
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