Midwinter Break has one of the best characters I’ve seen on screen in years. Her name is Stella Gilmore (Lesley Manville), a retired Irish schoolteacher sensing she’s running out of time to keep a promise she made to God. Catholic, compact, and composed, what sets her apart from most figures we encounter at the movies is the sense that the choices we make in life actually matter. Polly Findlay’s beautiful and elegant debut feature trusts you to sit with Gilmore, to watch as she and her husband, Gerry (Ciarán Hinds), move through Amsterdam and to work out for yourself what it ...

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